A dangerous driver has left a pedestrian paralysed and two others injured after a crash at a car meet in Flintshire. Kiera Ridler was travelling at around 65mph on a 30mph road when she collided with another car, before her vehicle veered off the road and hit pedestrian Christopher Rakestraw.
Mr Rakestraw’s injuries were so severe that he has lost function in all four limbs and now has six carers caring for him 24 hours a day. An expert said Ridler, 36, would have been travelling at between 50 and 115mph but her most likely speed was 65mph.
A judge at Mold Crown Court noted that Ridler has a 15-month-old child, but said he could not suspend her 20-month jail sentence. The court heard the car meet was held on September 19, 2021, at the Manor Industrial Estate in Flint.
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Ridler, of Hampson Avenue, Wrexham, was there, knowing that there would be fast-driving enthusiasts who would behave illegally and brag about it. Ridler and others did not race themselves, but rode behind the worst of these drivers.
She repeatedly drove “much, much faster than the speed limit” on the 30mph road, Judge His Honour Niclas Parry said. Ridler was seen driving up and down the road for about an hour and 15 minutes before she crashed.
Her first victim – Ellie Blower – saw a near miss at a T-junction, felt “the situation was dangerous” and decided to drive away. Ms Blower tried to slowly pull away from a T-junction, from where her view was limited, and from where “she should not have come,” the judge said.
Mrs. Blower and the suspect Ridler collided, with the suspect driving at a speed of 50 to 60 mph. Mrs. Blower sustained injuries including a broken ankle and wrist.
She spent two and a half weeks in the hospital. Eight months later she could no longer bear weight without pain. Nine months later she could only use her ankle to 50 percent.
Ridler also drove his car into pedestrian Rakestraw, then 23 years old and now 26. According to the court, his injuries were so serious that he can no longer use all four of his limbs.
He spent 12 months in hospital, lives in an adapted bungalow and has six carers who look after him 24 hours a day. He is likely to remain bedridden or wheelchair bound.
Ridler’s own passenger also suffered a broken wrist in the crash, while Ridler herself suffered a displaced fracture of her collarbone. The judge told her today: “You made a conscious decision to ignore the rules of the road and the danger to others. That is why you were at this planned event.”
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He noted that Ridler made the “ridiculous” excuse that she was “looking for a parking space” during the incident, although she later pleaded guilty to two charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. Richard Dawson, defending, said it was regrettable, adding: “If she (Ms Blower) had not come into the road this tragic accident would not have happened.”
He said the consequences for his client’s child if their mother were sent to prison would be “dire”. He asked the court to refrain from imposing a sentence of immediate detention.
Nevertheless, the judge gave Ridler a 20-month prison sentence for one count of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, with no separate sentence for the other charge. He said: “The public and those directly affected by this tragic case should understand, as I am sure they will, that no sentence I impose will reflect the severity and injuries caused by some of the terrible consequences of those events.
“There are cases where an appropriate punishment can only be achieved through immediate detention.” The suspect will serve half of her sentence, with the remainder on probation.
She was banned from driving for two years and ten months and will have to pass an extensive retest before she can drive again.
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