A dangerous driver who ploughed her car into a mother and three children as they crossed a road has been jailed for a year.
Melanie Grierson, 52, hit the family as they walked over the A73 in Carluke on a green man. The mother spotted Grierson's Fiat 500 coming towards her and desperately tried to push the children, who were aged seven, four and three, to safety but she
careered into them.
The impact of the collision sent the mother onto the bonnet of the car and under the vehicle. She was taken to hospital and treated for a collapsed lung and a fractured arm while her children were treated for abrasions but all made a full recovery.
Grierson, of Carluke, denied causing injury by dangerous driving in October 2021 at Airdrie Sheriff Court but was unanimously convicted by a jury. Sheriff Joseph Hughes told the first offender the incident was so serious she had to go to jail. She was
also banned from driving for three years and will have to pass the extended test before she is allowed back on the roads.
Horror CCTV footage shown to jurors captured the moment the family was struck.
Giving evidence, the 27-year-old mum said: "I thought the car would have stopped because the person would have seen the children but that didn't happen and all I remember is me going on top of the car and then rolling off.
"I remember the car driving over the top of me and me screaming for it to get off me and I was unconscious. I woke up and there was a police officer holding my head and I could hear my children screaming."
Unemployed Grierson told the court her attention had been drawn to an ambulance coming up behind her. She said: "I looked to see whether it was going to overtake me and the next thing I knew, the girl had hit my car. I didn't see her until she hit the
car and I jumped out to see if I could help."
Sabrina Baig, defending, said: "The severity of this case is not lost on her. She has had time to reflect on what she should have done and that is to pay more attention to the road in front of her. She has genuine victim empathy for the complainer and
her three children."
Sheriff Hughes said: "The first time you were aware of anything was when this lady landed on your bonnet. It is an absolute blessing that all four of them are alive.
"It probably saddens and worries me that it took a whole jury trial and all of those months and months after this incident for you to finally realise that your driving was dangerous, it could never have been anything else. I have come to the conclusion,
most regrettably, that I cannot step away from a period of imprisonment."
In a previous statement through lawyers Digby Brown, the mother said: "This crash changed our lives in more ways than just the injuries and scarring. My children are now terrified to cross the street and they flinch when they hear loud cars in the street.
"I have tried to be calm about this but I can't help but despise that woman because of what she did to my children."
https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/lanarkshire-danger-driver-jailed-after-27925233
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