A DEVASTATED woman was left suicidal after being badly injured by a motorist who ploughed into a queue of passengers at a Sheffield bus stop.
Call centre team manager Adil Riaz, aged 23, lost control of his BMW and smashed into the bus stop – injuring eight people – outside the Northern General Hospital on Barnsley Road.
The most severe injuries were suffered by 23-year-old Ewa Koncka, who almost had to have her foot amputated.
She was so devastated by her life-changing injuries she contemplated suicide, Sheffield magistrates heard.
In a victim impact statement read to Sheffield magistrates’ court, Miss Koncka said she’d been a keen swimmer and dancer but her life had changed and now she was unable to work.
As she lay on the ground she thought she would bleed to death and was in the worst pain she’d ever felt in her life.
John Kavanagh, prosecuting, said she was glad her foot had been saved but she would walk with a limp for the rest of her life.
“I was upset and thought my life wouldn’t be worth living,” she said.
Riaz has pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention, failing to stop at the scene of an accident, failing to report an accident and no insurance. He has been warned he faces jail.
The court was told Riaz, of Whiteways Road, Grimesthorpe, fled on foot, injuring himself and leaving the stricken casualties lying in the street.
About 20 minutes later he rang the police claiming his car had been stolen. He said three men had attacked him, beaten him unconscious and taken the vehicle.
Mr Kavanagh said Riaz was on his way home from work in the uninsured car, which he’d only bought the previous day.
He lost control of the vehicle as he drove uphill in poor visibility due to pouring rain at 8.05pm on July 2.
“He loses control, spins across the carriageway and collides with the bus shelter,” said Mr Kavanagh.
Mr Kavanagh said Miss Koncka, 23, suffered the most ‘significant injuries’ while another man suffered a broken arm.
He continued: “Afterwards the occupants get out of the vehicle and flee the scene. Nobody makes any attempt to stay at the scene, assist with the injured or await the emergency services.”
Riaz was arrested by officers who went to his home after he reported the car stolen.
He denied being at the wheel until he answered bail in November and was presented with further evidence.
It included CCTV footage which showed him leaving work in the BMW 35 minutes before the crash.
Mobile phone analysis also put him at the scene.
Mr Kavanagh said the collision was the result of a ‘momentary lapse in concentration’ rather than an ‘extended period of bad driving’, and there was not sufficient evidence Riaz was speeding.
Louise Green, defending, said Riaz thought he was going to be attacked by the angry bus passengers and had panicked and fled.
“He realises he should have stopped at the first opportunity and contacted the police.”
Adjourning the case for a pre-sentence report, district judge Naomie Redhouse banned Riaz from driving and warned him he could go to jail.