Mansfield teenager left friend with catastrophic brain injuries and robbed her of her future

Evie Robinson had spent the evening with "good friends who had fun and often played pranks," in the car park of the Odeon on Park Lane, Mansfield, on August 5 last year.

Amelia Trem, prosecuting, said Robinson's victim asked if she and another girl could get into the boot of Robinson’s white Audi A1 to be driven around the car park.

But when Robinson sped off both girls were spilled out of the boot.

The second girl hit her head and briefly blacked out but Robinson’s victim, who was sitting on the ledge of the boot with her legs hanging over the bumper, fell out face first and stayed unmoving on the ground.

She was transferred to the Queen’s Medical Centre where she was placed in a coma. A CT scan revealed a bleed on her brain which required emergency surgery. Part of her skull had to be removed to relieve the pressure and a probe was introduced to monitor that pressure.

She was transferred from the acute critical care unit to a ward where she remained for six weeks where she suffered seizures.

At first she couldn’t talk and had difficulty understanding complex information, the court heard.

Since her discharge from hospital she has needed speech and language therapy, suffers from a severe persistent headache, and has been diagnosed with epilepsy as a result of the brain injury.

“You have damaged all who cherish her,” her victim's mum told Robinson when she read out her statement.

“She lay lifeless in intensive care, fighting for her life, and exposing all who love her to profound emotional and physical pain.

“Everything you take for granted (the victim) has to relearn. She lost her independence, her dignity and the future she worked so hard for.

“We will never be free of the life sentence you have imposed on her. Our fight is a relentless battle of uncertainty.”

Nottingham Crown Court heard Robinson’s victim “had so many hopes and dreams” and was working towards becoming a vet.

Robinson, aged 20, of Cromford Avenue, Mansfield, admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving when she appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court on March 3.

On Tuesday, Lucky Thandi, mitigating, said: “The reality of the driving itself is that it was described by others present as ‘not dangerous’.

“What constitutes dangerous in this case is the fact that two people were in the boot of the car when it was driven,” she said.

After hearing the facts of the case and the mitigation, Judge Robert Egbuna said he wanted to think overnight what sentence to hand to Robinson.

He said: “This is a very unusual case, the injuries the victim sustained were significant.”