Pub worker crashed car after drink and drugs
A PUB worker drove into another vehicle after drinking and taking drugs at a party.
Larisa Jones had been speeding while giving a lift home to two friends on the morning of August 21 last year when her car struck another vehicle – injuring one of her passengers so seriously he spent weeks in an induced coma.
Prosecutor Dean Pulling told the court the 21-year-old had been working at the Castle Hotel in Pontardawe before joining friends at Kitty’s in the town when she finished her shift.
She had then headed to a house party with friends, including Mr Wathan, where she had taken cocaine. At 9am on August 21, she agreed to take Mr Wathan and another friend, Chloe McQuaide, home. Despite wet driving conditions and a 30mph speed limit Jones drove her Renault Twingo at speed through Ynysmeudy before hitting a Citroen being driving “cautiously” by 50-year-old Andrea Wheelhouse. Forensic investigations estimated Jones had been driving at between 54 and 67mph.
Mr Wathan, who hadn’t been wearing a seatbelt, received the most serious injuries of all the travellers with numerous facial injuries, a bleed to his brain, broken hips and a collapsed lung.
He needed to use a wheelchair for a number of weeks, affecting his ability to care for his young son, and had been unable to find suitable employment. He also experienced seizures.
Ms McQuaide received lesser injuries, which included a fractured wrist. In a victim impact statement Ms Wheelhouse said she had experienced constant pain following the collision, as well as flashbacks and difficulty sleeping.
Jones was later found to have a reading of 85mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood – the legal limit is 80mg. In addition she was found to have 630mg of a cocaine metabolite in her blood making her 12-and-a-half times over the legal limit of 50.
Jones, of Bethesda Road, Ynysmeudwy, admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving, driving with excess alcohol, and driving with excess drugs.
Jones was jailed for a total of 22 months and was told she would serve half of that in custody before being eligible for release on licence. She was also disqualified from driving for four years and 11 months.