A Gold Coast retiree behaved “bizarrely” when she ran over her neighbour, causing a compound fracture and multiple other fractures to her leg. Pamela Anne Jessep, 65, kept backing into her garage, closed the door and then retreated into her Labrador home after running over the 66-year-old neighbour about 10.30am on April 23. Other neighbours rushed to treat the woman, who was on the ground with bone sticking out of her leg. Jessep pleaded guilty in the Southport Magistrates Court today to one count of driving without due care causing grievous bodily harm. Magistrate Kay Philipson fined Jessep $700 and banned her from driving for six months. “I do find it quite bizarre that you didn’t go to the woman’s assistance,” she said. Magistrate Philipson said the incident had caused the victim to lose a lot of independence. Police prosecutor Senior Constable Danielle Myers told the court the neighbour had approached Jessep as she was backing into her garage and gestured that she wanted to talk to her. The 66-year-old woman was about five metres away from Jessep’s car. Sen. Const. Myers said Jessep then drove forward, striking her neighbour. “The defendant reversed into the garage and shut the garage door,” she said. The court was told the victim needed surgery to a metal plate inserted into her leg. As well as a number of fractures, the woman’s ankle was also dislocated. Sen Const. Myers said the victim had told prosecutors she did not want police to ask Jessep to pay compensation. Jessep’s lawyer Abbey Huckstep, of Legal Aid Queensland, said Jessep did not go to the woman’s aid because other people were already helping her. “She was in shock and her thought was that going there and being the person who caused it she might have gotten attacked herself,” she said. Ms Huckstep said Jessep had no criminal history and her only traffic history was running a red light in 1994 and again in 2009. The court was told Jessep worked as a nurse for more than two decades and now did a lot of volunteer work. Ms Huckstep said Jessep has been diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety. No conviction was recorded.
