A man has been sentenced to 80 hours of community service and disqualified from driving for four years after hitting an elderly lady as she crossed the road using a pedestrian crossing.
Trevor Lloyd Roussel, 56, appeared in the Magistrate’s Court on Thursday for the incident which occurred on 21 December 2021. Roussel had initially pleaded not guilty but changed his plea on 12 April 2022.
Prosecuting Advocate Marc Davies told the Court that on the morning of 12 December the victim stepped off a bus on Les Bas Courtil Road at 7:25am and went to cross the road using the pedestrian crossing.
Advocate Davies said it was winter and still dark out. It was also raining but the car and streetlights were switched on.
The victim crossed the road from “sea to landside", as she did this “traffic on her side stopped”.
Roussel was travelling towards the crossing at this time, Advocate Davies said that whilst the car behind him did notice a lady crossing the road, “Roussel did not”.
The victim noticed a vehicle approaching and “sped up her pace slightly", she was unaware of anything else until she was hit by the vehicle.
Pictured: The incident occurred on the pedestrian crossing on Les Bas Courtils Road.
Multiple witnesses saw her “flying through the air, landing headfirst on the pavement", according to Advocate Davies. She was immediately taken to hospital as she sustained “a number of significant injuries”.
The victim required transfer to Southampton hospital for 10 days and spent a further six weeks in the Princess Elizabeth Hospital afterwards.
Her wrists were broken, face fractured in multiple places, her teeth were pushed into her gums, and she also suffered a tail bone fracture.
A subsequent victim impact statement revealed she continued to experience “pains all over – mostly in the arms, sinus pain, enduring pain from the teeth, and significant trouble sleeping”.
Advocate Davies said there were no mechanical faults with the vehicle and “there were no reported difficulties in driving conditions”.
During the Police interview, Roussel claimed he didn’t see the victim as she was not wearing high-visibility clothing. He acknowledged her right of way and said he was engaged in conversation with his nephew at the time.
Representing Roussel, Advocate Oliver Fattorini said his client “recognises the very serious emotional harm caused,” by the incident.
He said Roussel had written an apologetic letter to the vicim, however this didn't impress Judge Gary Perry as it was written just a few days before the Court appearance.
Judge Perry said: “It smacks of: ‘it’s for my benefit that I’ve written a letter’."
Pictured: The victim spent several weeks in hospital after the incident.
Advocate Fattorini said his client “accepts responsibility for his actions and is remorseful of what happened” as he highlighted that there was no suggestion Roussel deliberately disregarded those around him.
“It was a momentary lapse of concentration,” he said, encouraging the Judge to consider a suspended sentence for the offence.
Judge Perry recognised that Roussel had been cautioned for his driving in the past, even receiving a disqualification for drink driving.
He said that whilst he couldn’t sentence based on the injuries received by the victim, he asked Roussel to accept that his standard of driving fell below expectations – noting that the offence did not pass the custody threshold.
“Somebody’s life has been turned upside down by your actions,” he said.
Roussel was sentenced to 80 hours of community service. He was also disqualified from driving for four years.
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