Police ScotlandA girl was left with a brain injury and a bolt in her skull after she was the victim of a car crash.
The 12-year-old was the rear passenger in the car that was struck by Gemma Rankin’s vehicle in Gartcosh, Lanarkshire, on June 30, 2022.
The schoolgirl was initially left unconscious and later put into an induced coma by medics.
She suffered a string of injuries, which included a bleed to the brain as well as skull and neck fractures.
As part of her recovery, the girl had a bolt placed in her skull as well as five stitches to close the wound which will leave a permanent scar.
Rankin – who had a bald tyre and no valid MOT – claimed that she was trying to avoid potholes before the crash.
Glasgow Sheriff Court heard that the girl had been in the car of a family friend with two other girls.
The friend told the court in her evidence that she could hear a car engine noise in the distance on Lochend Road.
Prosecutor Kyle Dalziel asked the witness what she did before she saw the car.
She replied: “I didn’t know what to do. I started to slow down more because there was a bend in the road.
“I couldn’t see her because of the bend.
“I was more or less on the bend when she came driving towards me. If I continued I would have went head on but I slowed the car right down.”
The friend described Rankin’s white Vauxhall Corsa as going “too fast”.
The witness claimed she had no time to react to Rankin’s driving to avoid the collision.
She told jurors that she spoke to Rankin after the crash and said she was told: “Sorry about that, there was too much muck on the tyres.”
The 12-year-old girl was put in an induced coma at the scene and taken to hospital.
She was put on ventilation and took a seizure, which lasted 90 seconds.
The girl was then treated for her many injuries.
The trial heard that the girl cannot move her eyebrow and has memory and concentration issues.
Her mother told the court that her daughter had been active in clubs before the incident.
She now only attends a dance club once a week and has become “very withdrawn”.
“She has a scar from the top of her head to the start of her eye,” the mum said.
“She couldn’t look at herself in the mirror.
“She had to start high school with a neck brace which she was bullied for.”
The family friend was also treated in hospital for a neck fracture and tissue swelling.
She was also put on a neck brace.
Rankin told the court that she believed she was within a coronavirus extension period when it came to renewing her MOT. She also claimed she was “unaware” her tyre was bald.
Rankin denied saying the incident was due to muck on her tyres.
She told her lawyer, Kyra Steel: “I noticed potholes on my side of the road and I moved over to try to avoid them.
“When I tried to move back over this was when I saw the other car.
“I only had a couple of seconds to react. I moved to the left as far as I could in the time that I had.”
Rankin said that she and her one-year-old daughter who was in the car with her were also injured.
Rankin, of Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, was initially charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Members of the public gallery were heard to cheer when the jury delivered an alternative verdict of causing serious injury by careless driving.
Sentencing was deferred pending background reports by Sheriff Michael Hanlon who disqualified Rankin from driving and continued her bail meantime.
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