Weeping drug drive mum told ‘warn kids you’re facing prison’
AJUDGE told a weeping mum-oftwo who mowed down a cyclist while six times over the drug drive limit to go home and warn her children she faces jail.
Emily Brown, 32, wasn’t wearing her glasses when her VW Golf hit a man on his bike during the evening rush hour in Oldham last October.
The man was thrown over the roof of the car and was left with serious injuries, including a fractured skull.
Brown, a lettings agent from Royton, wept at Minshull Street Crown Court as she admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving and drug driving.
Her lawyer told the court she had not told either of her two daughters about the case, adding: “She told me she simply won’t be able to tell them that mummy is not coming home.
“The impact on her children will be enormous.”
Judge Bernadette Baxter bailed Brown as she adjourned the case for a report, but told her: “I want you to face up to what you did.
“Sitting here crying will not help your children. You cannot just bury your head in the sand.
“You need to speak to your family and you need to tell your children what could possibly happen. The fact is that me adjourning does not give any indication on the ultimate sentence where the most likely outcome is still an immediate custodial sentence.”
The hearing was told the incident happened at a road junction after Brown had been out with her youngest child and the girl’s father for a meal at a restaurant.
Prosecutor Mr Simon Blakebrough said: “She was not wearing her glasses, which was a requirement on her driving licence.
“(The victim) had just started cycling from a road junction when he was struck from behind.
“The collision caused him to be thrown onto the windscreen of the VW Golf, onto the roof of the vehicle and subsequently onto the road. The victim was wearing reflective clothing, the bike has lights on that were illuminated.
“She had failed to have regard for obvious road users, had drugs in her system and was not wearing her glasses as instructed.”
The court heard the man suffered severe brain injuries, a soft tissue injury to the shoulder and a fractured right ankle.
He spent three weeks in hospital, and was admitted to an intensive care unit.
He is still undergoing treatment.
Ten months on, the 58-year-old still suffers from dizziness and has not been able to return to work as a lorry driver.
Brown said she had been taking cocaine 48 hours before the incident as it was the sixth anniversary of the deaths of her premature born twins.
Tests suggested she had taken the drug as little as 12 hours before the crash.
Brown’s lawyer Miss Rachel Shenton told the court: “The results suggest she consumed cocaine 12 to 24 hours prior to the incident but the defendant says she took it on the Monday evening.
“She genuinely believed she was safe and she would never have driven, not just for the safety of her children, but for the safety of others.”