Driver sentenced for causing crash that left friend with life-changing injuries

Passenger placed in induced coma after collision

A teenager sustained severe head injuries and was left fighting for his life in a horrific crash in west Fife.

He was one of two passengers seriously injured in a two-car collision near High Valleyfield on September 13.

The driver of the car, 18-year-old Louise Barton, caused the collision by pulling out of a junction into the path of an oncoming car.

Depute fiscal Dev Kapadia said Barton had three passengers in her car at the time of the accident, which happened at around 9.25pm.

Barton pulled out of the junction into the path of a car travelling at 55mph.

The 18-year-old male passenger was taken by ambulance under police escort to Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.

He had sustained severe head injuries including a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain.

He also suffered a fractured pelvis and was placed in an induced coma.

His family were told he was unlikely to survive but he recovered.

However, he was left with lifechanging injuries, added the depute.

A female passenger sustained a fractured shoulder and punctured lung. The driver of the other car was not injured.

The accused was also badly injured, sustaining a perforated bowel.

The court was told Barton is a Highland dancer with the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and had not been able to take part in an event in Australia because of her injuries.

Barton, of Brandy Riggs, Cairneyhill, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court, where she submitted a guilty plea.

She admitted that on September 13 on the A985 at the junction with Clinkum Bank, she drove a car carelessly, failed to maintain proper observations of the carriageway and failed to adequately give way.

She exited the junction into the path of a car, resulting in the extensive damage of both vehicles and the severe injury of a female passenger and also the severe injury, permanent disfigurement and permanent impairment of a male passenger.

Sheriff Alastair Brown said “There is nothing I can do to undo the damage that was done in the accident.”

He told Barton: “It’s quite clear it was a moment’s very bad judgment.

“You may care to consider getting a bit more training as a driver.

“It was bad judgment but you have much to offer to society.”

He fined Barton £400 and endorsed her licence with five penalty points.

“

It’s quite clear it was a moment’s very bad judgment... but you have much to offer society