A woman who drove a car off the cliff at the Bar Beach carpark, injuring a woman standing at the bottom of the 30 metre plunge, has been sentenced in Newcastle Local Court.
Magistrate Andrew Miller on Monday sentenced the 47-year-old Wallsend woman to a 15-month Intensive Corrections Order - a legal alternative to full-time imprisonment - over the incident mid-morning on September 24 last year.
The woman drove a Volkswagon Polo through a concrete barrier and off the cliff, hitting a woman before the vehicle rolled and came within metres of the injured woman's husband and toddler.
The woman struck by the car, who was unknown to the driver, suffered significant injuries to her femur that will likely need ongoing treatment. The driver suffered several fractures, including to her arm and hip.
The court heard on Monday that the driver was attempting self harm. She did not intend on injuring anyone else and had shown genuine remorse. The court heard that she had also been experiencing auditory hallucinations in the weeks before the incident.
The driver pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm last month.
Magistrate Miller said on Monday the incident had a "clear link" to the Wallsend woman's mental health and he acknowledged that she had been having ongoing treatment since the crash.
He said continued treatment would not necessarily be available to her if she was to serve a term of full-time custody.
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