Ex-BBC presenter sentenced after leaving scene of Co Down accident
Karen Patterson was handed a £600 penalty and had her licence endorsed with six penalty points
A former BBC Radio Ulster presenter has been fined after she left the scene of an accident she caused.
Karen Patterson was handed a £600 penalty and had her licence endorsed with six penalty points today.
The 54-year-old was sentenced at Newtownards Magistrates Court.
Ms Patterson, who now works as a dairy farmer, contested a charge of causing grievous bodily injury by careless driving.
Defence counsel Conan Rea argued the injuries suffered by the other driver were not serious enough to amount to really serious harm.
A prosecuting lawyer outlined that around 8.30pm on March 16 last year, the Range Rover being driven by Ms Patterson was in collision with a Mazda MX5 sports car on the Newtownards Road in Comber.
The Mazda driver told police that as he was overtaking the 4x4, the Range Rover moved across the middle line and there was contact before his vehicle came to rest in the ditch.
The court heard how the Mazda driver sustained a 'sprained wrist' and some hearing loss through tinnitus.
Karen Patterson was sentenced at Newtownards Magistrates Court.
News in 90 June 4th
Commenting that the injuries 'do not even come close to grievous bodily injury,' District Judge Mark Hamill found Ms Patterson not guilty of causing GBI by careless driving.
Mr Rea emphasised that this had been the stated defence position 'for months' and that Ms Patterson had made early admissions to leaving the scene and to careless driving.
He explained that on the night of the accident, the defendant had spotted the sporty Mazda 'travelling at some speed behind her' but had lost sight of the car when she performed her manoeuvre.
It was that manoeuvre which caused the slight coming together of the vehicles and although the defendant drove on, Mr Rea said she returned but couldn't see anyone so drove on home, without reporting the matter to police.
The barrister said she now realised that although she did not know who the other driver was, she still should have told the police.
However, he highlighted that having been driving for 35 years, Ms Patterson with an address in Downpatrick, only has three points on her licence.
He revealed that having worked as a journalist for many years, 'she left that employment' and now runs a dairy farm with her mum.
Mr Rea explained that with having to drive between her home and the farm to milk the cows, losing her licence would cause 'considerable difficulties.'
Recording guilty pleas to offences of careless driving, failing to report and failing to remain, Judge Hamill repeated that while the injuries 'might entertain the civil court,' from his perspective they 'do not come near to GBI.'
Imposing fines totalling £600 along with the six penalty points and £15 offender levy, the judge highlighted that 'what I do today doesn't make a blind bit of difference to the civil court.'
Ms Patterson started out in journalism with the Bangor Spectator and later moved on to Downtown-Cool FM.
She started in the BBC in 2000 and was well known as a presenter on Good Morning Ulster for around a decade.
She was among a number of presenters who left the BBC in 2020.
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