A woman was caught on camera having a lover's tiff before accelerating out of a deserted car park and ploughing into an innocent victim.

Yet police who investigated the incident, in August 2017, initially failed to bring any charges against driver Jessica Mayne, 21, of Birling, near West Malling.

The victim, Luna Frankland, received fractures to her fibula, tibia and spine and has made a "protracted recovery complicated by chronic pain" which has left her with "PTSD and memory difficulties", Maidstone Crown Court heard.

It was only after she challenged the no-charge decision that police viewed the footage and were able to bring charges.

Mayne, of Snodland Road, has now pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by driving dangerously.

Her barrister Irshad Sheikh said: “This matter was investigated by the police and she was notified after a month that no further action would be taken against her.

“The complainant and her family appealed the (original) decision and the case was re-opened, the footage seen and then she was charged.”

Mr Sheikh added Mayne went to hospital to visit the victim where "they met and talked and exchanged text messages".

Now a judge has watched CCTV footage from the Maritime Way car park in Chatham which showed Mayne speeding to an estimated 32mph as her Peugeot exited the car park before running over Ms Frankland.

She claimed she swerved as she turned to look over her shoulder to see where her boyfriend had gone.

But Prosecutor Patrick Dennis told the court that the CPS couldn’t accept that as an excuse as an expert concluded "the swerve was not consistent with a person looking over their shoulder".

He added: “There had been an argument between the defendant and her boyfriend.

"He gets out of the car and is seen walking off. She follows him in the car to ask him to get back in.

"He doesn’t and she turns the vehicle around.

“The vehicle is going around 30mph, is accelerating and swerves to the left and it then hits the complainant.

"The prosecution is saying this was not deliberate.”

Mr Sheikh said the injury "was the unintended consequences of a bad piece of driving".

Mayne, who wept throughout the hearing, was released on bail until the sentencing on, November 15, but has been given a temporary driving ban.

Insp Julia Pexton, from Kent Police's professional standard’s department, told KentOnline it was reviewing its handling of the investigation.

To read more of our in depth coverage of all of the major trials coming out of crown and magistrates' courts across the county, click here

For information on how we can report on court proceedings, click here