Nurse who paralysed man in Silsden crash spared jail
GoogleA nurse who had a hypoglycaemic attack, causing a crash which left a pedestrian paralysed, has been spared jail.
Steven Ellison suffered a spinal fracture that left him paralysed from the waist down when Shirley Smith's car hit a parked vehicle in March 2018.
Smith pleaded guilty on Friday to causing serious injury by driving dangerously on Bolton Road, Silsden, West Yorkshire.
She was given an 18-month suspended sentence at Bradford Crown Court.
The court heard she felt the attack coming on but did not stop driving.
Car mounted pavement
Smith, 47, had worked as a nurse for more than 20 years and had a hypoglycaemic episode following her shift at Airedale General Hospital.
She lost control of her Vauxhall Corsa and crashed into a parked car trapping pedestrian Mr Ellison between two vehicles.
Smith, of East Hill Street, Barnoldswick, Lancashire had her sentence suspended for two years.
Andrew Stranex, prosecuting, said Smith's vehicle had been seen mounting the pavement about three-quarters of a mile before the crash.
CCTV footage indicated the Corsa was travelling at about 40mph just before it hit the parked car, he said.
Mr Ellison, in his victim impact statement, said : "My plans for the rest of my life have been turned completely upside down."
Tom Gent, barrister for Smith, said his client was wracked with guilt over the incident and had "been utterly devastated by the dreadful injuries she has caused".
Judge Jonathan Rose said it was a tragic case and Smith had made a determined attempt to take her own life and he feared for her health if he sent her to prison.
The judge ordered Smith to do 300 hours of unpaid community work and banned her from driving for five years.
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