Top jockey runs down triathlete
As she was zooming down Victoria Rd in Cambridge, Trudy Collett heard a thud. She looked behind her, but could not see anything. Assuming she had driven over a piece of wood or some other object on the road, she travelled on, turning on to Zig Zag Rd and then heading home. But she was mistaken. She had actually struck top triathlete Lizzie Stannard, sending the then-19-year-old flying off her bike. The teenager had landed on her head and was knocked out. It was a season-destroying injury for the up-and-coming Palmerston North sportswoman, who was later found on the roadside by two women who happened to be nurses, and called for an ambulance. She suffered lacerations to her ear that required surgery, tissue damage to her neck and back and swelling to her knee. She spent three nights in hospital and for months afterward was unable to work or compete. By chance Trudy Diane Collett – better known in horse racing circles as Trudy Thornton – is herself a top sportswoman. The acclaimed jockey has more than 1000 wins to her name and she was the first woman to ride in a Great Northern Steeplechase, in 1986. The 55-year-old was sentenced in the Hamilton District Court on Monday for what Judge Denise Clark described as ‘‘a moment’s inattention but with serious consequences’’ at 5.45pm on Saturday, March 4 last year, resulting in a charge of careless driving causing injury. The judge ordered Collett to pay her victim reparation of $1500, and disqualified her from driving for six months. Clark had earlier presided at a hearing at which an additional charge of failing to stop to ascertain injury was dismissed. Collett suffered from hearing problems, and was not able to determine which direction certain sounds were coming from, the judge said. Defendant and victim had been reunited at that hearing and Collett had apologised and had given Stannard a bouquet of flowers. As defence lawyer Thomas Sutcliffe had pointed out, the younger woman had subsequently declined to take part in a restorative justice conference, because she believed Collett had been ‘‘through enough already’’. Stannard has since recovered from her injuries and has been taking part in competitions.