Elissa O’Donnell faces ACT Magistrates Court over Belconnen crash
A man suffered a spinal fracture and several other injuries when a drug-driver hit his vehicle head-on in Canberra.
Canberra Star
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A man “tumbled out” of his car, fearing it was about to catch fire, after suffering a spinal fracture and several other injuries when a drug-driver hit his vehicle head-on.
The victim’s laundry list of ailments has been revealed in documents tendered to the ACT Magistrates Court, where Canberra woman Elissa Jane O’Donnell is awaiting sentencing.
O’Donnell, who currently lives in her car, has pleaded guilty to charges of drug-driving and negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.
The 41-year-old was behind the wheel of a Ford Focus when, in January 2023, she crossed onto the wrong side of William Hovell Drive in Belconnen and hit the victim’s Tesla sedan.
Both drivers were taken by ambulance to Canberra Hospital, where blood tests detected methamphetamine in O’Donnell’s system.
In addition to a spinal fracture, the victim suffered bruised lungs, a lacerated intestine, cracked ribs, broken and dislocated thumbs, cuts on his arms and facial abrasions.
Nearly a month after the incident, the man told police he remembered hearing a loud bang after exiting a roundabout.
“He thought his car might catch fire and he began to panic when he couldn’t get the driver’s door open,” court documents state.
“He crawled over to the passenger door and tumbled out onto the side of the road.”
The documents go on to say the victim was “in a heap of pain”, which was so bad “he could hardly stand”.
O’Donnell was due to be sentenced on Monday, but magistrate Jane Campbell adjourned the case at the request of defence lawyer Nathan Deakes.
Mr Deakes said O’Donnell had missed an appointment with the author of a court duty report because ACT Corrective Services had sent a letter about it to her old address in Holt.
He told the court O’Donnell was now living in her vehicle, but she could be contacted on a tablet.
Ms Campbell placed O’Donnell on bail, with conditions that included a requirement that she advise ACT Corrective Services of her contact details in order to facilitate preparation of the report.
O’Donnell is now due to be sentenced in April.
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