Jessica Joseph left Christopher Easdown with a catastrophic brain injury
Jessica Joseph outside Liverpool Crown Court(Image: Liverpool Echo)
A 76-year-old widow left a cyclist with a catastrophic brain injury after crashing her car into the dad’s bike outside a golf club. Christopher Easdown was left fighting for his life and spent weeks in a coma after Jessica Joseph veered onto the pavement and smashed into the back of his bicycle.
The married dad-of-two will require round the clock care for the rest of his life as a result of the devastating injuries which he sustained during the incident, having been “thrown into the air” as a result of the collision. While the reasons behind the accident remain largely unexplained, the pensioner was spared an immediate prison sentence today.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this afternoon, Monday, that Joseph’s silver Renault Clio and cyclist Mr Easdown were both travelling northbound along Meols Drive in Hoylake, with the latter riding along the pavement, at around 3.30pm on August 14 2022. However, the pensioner failed to make any attempt to turn at a right-hand bend when approaching the entrance to the Royal Liverpool Golf Club.
Martyn Walsh, prosecuting, described how this led to her mounting the pavement and crashing into the rear of Mr Easdown’s bike. He was “thrown up into the air” as a result, colliding with the perimeter wall of the golf club before landing on the ground.
Joseph, of Whetstone Lane in Birkenhead, told police at the scene that she had passed a parked car on the left hand side of the road and saw the bicycle in her wing mirror before returning into her lane, but then saw the cyclist on the floor and stopped on the pavement. She has since voluntarily surrendered her licence.
Mr Easdown was meanwhile rushed to Aintree Hospital after suffering several skull fractures, a broken right leg and injuries to his spine and chest, with a “traumatic brain injury” having meanwhile left the 57-year-old permanently unable to care for himself independently and with mobility issues. He spent three weeks in a coma and a total of eight months in the Walton Centre, and continues to reside in a specialist treatment centre for patients with neurological conditions.
Jessica Joseph outside Liverpool Crown Court(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Christopher Martin, defending, labelled the incident an “incredibly tragic case”, adding: “For a number of years, Ms Jones has been in poor health, both physically and mentally. She suffers from chronic kidney disease, arthritis, type two diabetes and hypertension.
“Ms Jones requires hospital based dialysis twice weekly, and that will be for the rest of her life. Ms Jones suffers from a major psychotic disorder, schizophrenia, and that has been the case since 2014. Ms Jones also suffers from severe degenerative spinal disease and has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis in both knees. There was never a period when she was medically forbidden from driving.
“Ms Jones failed to navigate the bend to the right, just before the entrance to the golf club. It is submitted on behalf of Ms Jones, in term of that manoeuvre, that that would be appropriately categorised as a momentary lapse of concentration rather than a period of poor driving.
“Ms Jones was, hitherto, a person of good character, with a previously unblemished driving record. She does not present a risk or danger to the public. It is submitted that the court can be confident that Ms Jones is never going to offend again.
“Ms Jones has considerable remorse for having caused serious injuries to Mr Easdown and, more than that, for the catastrophic impact it has had on his family. She has been a religious lady and has prayed every single day since the collision for all of those individuals. She has no recollection of the moments beforehand and the actual collision itself.”
Joseph admitted causing serious injury by careless driving. Clutching a tissue in the dock and wearing a beige jacket over a green top, she nodded and appeared to mouth “thank you” after being handed a seven-month imprisonment suspended for a year.
Jessica Joseph outside Liverpool Crown Court(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Mr Easdown’s wife was meanwhile seen in tears, with her head pressed into the shoulder of another family member, as Joseph was allowed to walk free from court. Sentencing, Judge Gary Woodhall said: “Your car veered off the road, mounted the nearside of the pavement and struck him, throwing him from his bike.
“It is clear that you were not driving at excess speed. It seems, from the evidence available to the prosecution, that you failed to properly navigate a gradual right hand bend in the road, in effect driving in a straight line before mounting the pavement.
“You were not impaired in any way. You spoke with police and gave an account, albeit the account that you gave cannot be accurate. There is no suggestion that you were malingering.
“He has suffered a traumatic brain injury. He suffered multiple fractures. Those injuries required significant surgical intervention and a prolonged period of medical intervention. Significantly, the injury to his brain has left permanent damage, from which he is unlikely to make any further recovery.
“He has lost his independence. He will never be able to return to employment or be able to care for his family. He requires 24-hour specialist support. Your victim’s wife of 20 years speaks of how highly loved he is, what a fantastic father he is and how their perfect family life has been destroyed by this offending.
“You are 76 years of age and of previous positive good character. Frankly, the evidence does not give me a clear answer to how you came to cause this collision. You continue to believe that there must have been some loss of consciousness.
“The author of the pre-sentence report has described how you have demonstrated clear accountability and deep remorse. You worked full time for most of your adult life before retiring early to care for your late husband, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease. You lost your husband 12 years ago.
“References describe you in highly positive terms, using words such as kind and caring. You are in significantly poor health. Although you have suffered from various health conditions, you were never advised not to drive.
“I am told that you no longer drive and have voluntarily returned your licence to the DVLA. This driving involved a failure to negotiate a bend rather than deliberately turning towards the pavement. This is not simply a momentary loss of concentration.
“I bear in mind the delay of nearly three years, in which there has been a significant deterioration in your health. There is no sentence I can pass which will begin to equate to the real sense of harm suffered. The reality is that there is nothing that this court can do or say that will alleviate or reduce the devastating impact.”
Jones was also told to complete a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to five days. She was banned from driving for a year.