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A woman woke up in hospital with life changing injuries after being hit by a car — only to be told it was her fault.
Luna Frankland was informed that she had stepped in front of a moving car in Chatham and police had dropped the case.
She revealed how police initially told her it was her fault and they were not charging the driver.
Now a judge has heard that CCTV clearly showed that she was the innocent victim of a speeding motorist.
And more than two years after the accident Ms Frankland has seen the driver Jessica Mayne receive a suspended jail sentence after admitting driving dangerously.
She told Maidstone Crown Court: "At the time I believed [the police] as I had faith in the process...which has left me feeling broken and disorientated."
The director of a small business revealed she was discharged from hospital wearing "nothing but a hospital gown", needing to get around using a rented wheelchair.
Ms Frankland said that as she arrived home a letter was waiting for her, dated before she had left hospital, from the police saying no charges were being brought against Mayne, of Snodland Road, Birling.
But while recovering from head, leg and spine injuries her family insisted officers examine the car park's CCTV of the appalling incident in Chatham.
It eventually led to Mayne, 21, admitting the accident - involving a 'very bad piece of driving' — was her fault.
She was given a 15-month jail sentence suspended for 18 months, ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work for the community and remain at her home between 7pm and 7am for the next four months.
Mayne, who admitted causing serious injury by driving dangerously, was also banned from driving for three years, ordered to take an extended test before getting back behind a wheel and made to pay £500 court costs.
"I appear okay on the surface but I am struggling to hold it together...above all I want to know something which, quite likely I will never find out...why?" - Luna Frankland
The court heard how Mayne had a lovers tiff with her partner in the seconds before her car ploughed into Ms Frankland in the Maritime Way car park in August 2017.
Prosecutor Patrick Dennis said Mayne was in the middle of a "volatile relationship" with her partner George Austin.
"They were having an argument and Mr Austin got out of the vehicle that the defendant was driving and started walking across the car park and over a bridge to the place they were sharing.
"He said that she was shouting at him to get back in the car, although she denied it. Mr Austin said she was behaving in a desperate, angry, emotional and aggressive way."
As he got to the bridge at the end of the car park, Mayne then accelerated away before turning the car around and driving at up to 32 mph, which was "far, far too fast" the court heard.
The prosecutor added: "As she was driving towards the exit, Ms Frankland was entering on foot. CCTV footage showed Mayne's vehicle veering sharply, directly and ostensibly towards Ms Frankland.
"It hit the victim full on and she went straight over the bonnet. Ms Frankland remembers walking into the car park and was aware being hit by the bonnet but the rest she cant remember, " he added.
Mr Dennis said Mr Austin heard "a screeched of brakes, a loud bang, followed by the defendant shouting: "George, George, Help."
"To his credit he ran back and described the defendant as being scared and panicking. He got into the vehicle and reversed off the victim's foot, called the emergency services and performed first aid."
Later Mayne claimed she had been looking over her shoulder as she left the car park to see where her partner was.
"As I opened my eyes I could see my leg in a zig-zag shape..." - Luna Frankland
But the Crown rejected that claim, Mr Dennis told the court: "She denied driving deliberately at the complainant. We accept that there was no intent, no hostile animus but we say that she was so angry and emotional... she really didn't give any thought to what she was doing."
Judge Julian Smith said that had it been deliberate, Mayne could have faced a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent.
Ms Frankland received a broken right tibia, right fibula, a fractured spine, broken nose, broken teeth, facial lacerations, moderate traumatic brain injury in the smash and has suffered PTSD and memory loss since then.
The victim, who walked into the witness box using a calliper, told the judge how before the accident, friends and work colleagues had described her as a "highly intelligent and social person" with a wide variety of interests, including taking dance classes, skiing, snowboarding, surfing, jogging, walking and climbing.
On the day of the accident she was preparing for a trip to Los Angeles on a flight she had bought a year earlier for a month-long business trip, visiting friends and camping and hiking around Alaska.
She said: "I was in good shape as I used to walk a lot and I was heading home and as I passed Chatham bus station I was talking to my mother on my headphones.
"I recall the walk relatively well and I was describing in detail to my mother telling her how excited I was about going away."
She said she was suddenly aware of movement by a blue car which swerved "around 30 degrees and hit me at speed."
Ms Frankland added: "I remember trying to pull myself up and feeling a sharp pain in my shoulder. As I opened my eyes I could see my leg in a zig-zag shape. I remember struggling to stay awake."
She said she was aware that her mother was on her mobile phone "and I recall saying: 'I'm sorry mum...I love you lots'.
"I remember the driver kept coming over and apologising."
She said she has since suffered nightmares since the incident and she revealed she had battled with the hospital authorities - who thought she was an overseas visitor and tried to bill her - and the car insurance company which classed her claim as "fake" because at the time there was no police report.
"I appear okay on the surface but I am struggling to hold it together...above all I want to know something which, quite likely I will never find out...why?"
The court heard that Mayne, who now works at a pharmacy, was "consumed with remorse" and had exchanged text messages with Ms Frankland after the accident.
Her barrister Irshad Sheikh said: "She was only 19 years old at time and it wasn't her fault this case has taken so long to get to court."
She is now in a "stable" relationship with another man, the court heard.
Judge Smith said the victim had suffered "a terrifying, overwhelming and crushing experience" which had left her with life-changing and devastating injuries.
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