By Isabel Hayes
A woman drove through a crossroads, colliding with a car containing an elderly couple in a crash that left the woman with a fractured back, a court has heard.
The victim’s husband, who was driving the car, died 19 days later from an unrelated bout of pneumonia, with his wife of 53 years unable to be with him due to her injuries from the crash, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard yesterday.
Victoria Quinn (46), of Blackwood Mews, Ongar Close, Clonee, Co. Dublin, pleaded guilty to one count of careless driving causing serious harm to the 72-year-old woman at the R125 in Swords on June 4, 2022. She has no previous convictions.
Careless driving causing serious harm carries a maximum sentence of two years.
Garda Dylan Toner told John Moher BL, prosecuting, that the elderly couple were on their way to Ashbourne to do some shopping on the day in question when the man suddenly said to his wife: “We’re fucked.”
The court heard the woman then heard a crash and felt the bang of a car collision.
A witness to the accident told gardaí that he saw a black SUV, driven by Quinn, coming at speed along the road.
He said he realised she was going too fast to stop at the crossroads and he had to “slam” on his brakes to avoid a collision.
He said Quinn’s car then “flew past” the stop sign and crashed into the elderly couple’s car.
This witness got his son to call 999 and ran to both cars to help the injured occupants.
A second witness said Quinn was “going hard” and “went through the crossroads as if it didn’t exist” before crashing into the other car.
Gardaí and Dublin Fire Brigade were called to the scene.
Quinn, who was the sole occupant of her car, told gardaí she was uninjured, but she presented to hospital a couple of days later with soft tissue injuries.
The couple declined to go to hospital, but the woman was taken to A&E by ambulance later that evening.
She had a fracture in her lower back, along with bruising and pain to her wrist, elbow and chest.
She remained in hospital for five weeks receiving treatment, during which time she caught Covid-19.
During this period, her husband contracted pneumonia and died, the court heard.
This illness was unrelated to the car accident, prosecution counsel said.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said losing her husband as well as dealing with her injuries took a great toll on her mental health.
“We were in separate hospitals and I did not see him when he passed away,” she said. “I miss him deeply.”
She said she and her husband also missed their son’s wedding due to being hospitalised.
Upon being released from hospital, the woman spent 16 weeks in a back brace and several months undergoing rehabilitation.
Both cars were written off following the accident.
The woman said she is at a financial loss from her car being written off and also due to her husband’s death, as he ran the family farm.
She said her daughter had to give up work to care for her.
“The suffering is never-ending since that horrible day and I can’t see it improving,” she said.
The court heard Quinn made a voluntary statement to gardaí a couple of weeks after the accident, in which she said she slowed down and stopped at the crossroads before she “proceeded with caution”.
She said she estimated she was travelling at around 20km/h when the next thing she knew, there was a massive bang.
David Staunton BL, defending, said his client was cooperative with gardai and remained at the scene of the accident.
She provided a breath test which was negative and her car was fully insured.
Her insurer admitted liability for the accident at an early stage, but this has not been resolved due to delays on the part of the insurer, the court heard.
Quinn works for a professor of oncology and references were handed into court paying tribute to her manner with cancer patients.
She volunteers for a women’s refuge and also at a local football club.
She is married with two children and her husband was in court to support her.
Mr Staunton said Quinn was not seeking to shy away from the fact that her statement to gardaí was inconsistent with what happened in the case.
He said this was not a deliberate act on her part, that she did not see the stop sign and that her driving fell below the required driving standard.
He said she is “extraordinarily remorseful” for her actions and extremely conscious of the consequences for the victim in the case.
She was eager to be given an opportunity to bring a sum of money to court as a token of her remorse.
Judge Elva Duffy noted that no explanation had been given in relation to the version of events Quinn told gardaí.
She said this version was “not correct, possibly self-serving and possibly not truthful”.
She said she was concerned that a “fully rounded, fully functioning member of society” had given a version of events to gardaí that was not correct.
“Her version of events was so fundamentally at odds with what actually happened as to cause me some concern,” the judge said.
She adjourned the matter for finalisation on January 20 next year.