Yahoo News She left man paralysed and two others injured after crashing during car meet
A dangerous driver left a pedestrian paralysed and two others injured after crashing during a Flintshire car meet. Kiera Ridler was travelling at about 65mph on a 30mph road when she crashed into another car, before her vehicle span out and hit pedestrian Christopher Rakestraw.
Mr Rakestraw's injuries were so severe that he has lost the function in all four limbs, and now has six carers looking after him 24 hours a day. An expert said Ridler, 36, would have been going at between 50mph and 115mph but estimated 65mph was her most likely speed.
A judge at Mold Crown Court noted Ridler has a 15-month old child but said he couldn't suspend her 20-month jail sentence. The court heard the car meet was held on the Manor Industrial Estate in Flint on September 19, 2021.
Read more: Tragedy as man dies on Eryri mountain
Ridler, of Hampson Avenue, Wrexham, attended knowing there would be fast-driving enthusiasts who would behave illegally and boast about it. Ridler and others were not racing themselves but drove behind the worst of these drivers.
She repeatedly went "far, far in excess of the speed limit" on the 30mph road, said the judge His Honour Niclas Parry. Ridler was seen speeding up and down that road for about an hour and a quarter before she crashed.
Her first victim - Ellie Blower - saw a near miss at a T-junction, sensed that "the situation was dangerous" and decided to drive away. Ms Blower tried to slowly emerge from a T-junction, from which she had a restricted view, and from which "she should not have emerged," said the judge.
Ms Blower and the defendant Ridler collided, with the defendant travelling at 50mph to 60mph. Ms Blower sustained injuries including a fractured ankle and wrist.
She spent two and a half weeks in hospital. Eight months later she was unable to bear weight without pain. Nine months on, she only had 50 per cent use of her ankle.
Ridler's car also span into pedestrian Mr Rakestraw, then aged 23, now 26. His injuries were so severe he has lost the function in all four limbs, the court heard.
He spent 12 months in hospital, lives in an adapted bungalow and has six carers looking after him 24 hours a day. He is likely to remain bedbound or wheelchair bound.
Ridler's own passenger also suffered a fractured wrist in the crash, while Ridler herself sustained a displaced fracture of her collarbone. The judge told her today: "You made a deliberate decision to ignore the rules of the road and to disregard the danger to others. It's why you were at this planned event."
Join the North Wales Live WhatsApp community group where you can get the latest stories delivered straight to your phone
He observed that Ridler had come up with the "ludicrous" excuse that she had been "looking for somewhere to park" during the incident, although she later pleaded guilty to two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. Richard Dawson, defending, said it was regrettable and added: "But for her (Ms Blower's) emergence into the road this tragic accident would not have happened."
He said the effects on his client's child of their mother being sent to prison would be "profound". He invited the court to draw back from imposing a sentence of immediate custody.
Nevertheless, the judge gave Ridler the 20-month jail term on one count of causing serious injury by driving dangerously, with no separate penalty for the other count. He said: "The public and those immediately affected by this tragic case should, and I'm sure will, understand that no sentence that I pass will reflect the gravity and the injuries caused by some of the dreadful consequences of those events.
"There are some cases where appropriate punishment will only be achieved by immediate custody." The defendant will serve half her sentence, with the rest on licence.
She was disqualified from driving for two years and ten months. She must pass an extended retest before she can drive again.
Court newsletter
You can sign up for all the latest court stories here
