Young Donegal man who left friend in wheelchair after crash avoids jail

Stephen Maguire

A young Co Donegal man whose careless driving left his friend in a wheelchair has avoided going to prison.

Ethan Grochowicki admitted careless driving causing serious bodily harm to Yousaff Ghaffer when he appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court.

The young men had become good friends after meeting at the Atlantic Technological University in Letterkenny, where both were studying Law and Criminal Justice.

But both their lives changed forever following a crash on the outskirts of Letterkenny on November 17th, 2023.

The 22-year-old accused man, with an address at Clonmany Glebe, Terhoran, Clonmany, admitted that he drove a black Audi A4 without due care and attention at Garrowcarry, Letterkenny, causing serious bodily harm to Mr Ghaffer.

The charge is Contrary to Section 52 (1) and 52 (2) of the Road Traffic Act, 1961 (as substituted by Section 4 of the Road Traffic (No 2) Act 2011). Harrowing evidence was heard from Mr Ghaffer about how his life has changed forever since the tragedy.

Night of crash

The events of the night were outlined to barrister for the state, Ms Fiona Crawford, BL, by Garda Ciaran Langan.

The court heard how the pair and Grochowicki's girlfriend were driving around Letterkenny.

Grochowicki was driving, his girlfriend was the front seat passenger and Mr Ghaffer was a back-seat passenger.

The group were driving on the outskirts of Letterkenny at Garrowcarry when they came to a sharp right-hand bend.

Instead of taking the bend, the driver drove on straight and quickly ended up on a 'dirt road' before hitting a grass verge and sending the car into the air for some 25 feet before coming to rest after hitting an embankment.

The court heard that the two people in the front of the car were wearing their seatbelts but the rear-seat passenger, Mr Ghaffer, was not.

He had been leaning forward to change music in the front of the car when it went out of control.

The court was told that the accused driver had a full license and that the road on which the crash happened was governed by an 80km/h speed limit.

In an interview with gardaí after the crash, Grochowicki outlined the seconds before the crash, saying he was traveling at between 60 and 70km/h and that he drove straight. He said he never intended to turn into the bend in the road as he thought it was a continuation.

He said he couldn't remember if he hit the brakes and said he then blacked out due to shock.

When he came around again, the airbags had been deployed, his girlfriend was screaming and his back seat passenger, Mr Ghaffer, was saying he couldn't feel his legs.

All three were taken to Letterkenny University Hospital, but Mr Ghaffer was quickly transferred to Dublin's Mater Hospital because of the seriousness of his injuries.

The court was told that the accused man has no previous convictions and that he has since dropped out of the law course he had been doing and works in a local casino.

Apology

Apologising in court to Mr Ghaffer, Grochowicki said he wanted to apologise to the victim, saying that he never thought that evening would end how it had.

He said there were no words he say, and he will live with the burden for all of his life.

Barrister for the accused, Mr Colm Smyth, SC, instructed by solicitor Mr Rory O'Brien, said his client did not set out to cause his friend harm, that he thinks about it every day, and that he was so sorry for what happened.

Mr Smyth said that to call this area a 'blackspot' would be doing it an injustice, saying it was simply a "very backward part of the country."

He added that his client had no drink or drugs in his system when tested and that he is a young man who will carry this burden with him for the rest of his days.

He added that the forensic examiner had laid out clearly that this was a severe right-hand bend which could have been misjudged.

Mr Smyth said there was no lighting on the road or anything to indicate that there was a junction ahead.

He added that his client was now expecting a child with his partner in January.

Spinal cord injury

Mr Ghaffer then took to the witness stand to give his victim impact statement.

Now in a wheelchair, he told how at the time of the accident, he was looking forward to exploring new places and that his life was just beginning.

The accident changed everything, and he suffered a severe spinal cord injury, which left him learning how to use a wheelchair after a series of operations.

He must take 21 tablets for the rest of his life, and they make him drowsy and tired each day.

Mr Ghaffer says he struggles emotionally with fear, anger and depression since he was discharged from hospital and cannot get into other people's cars.

He added that he didn't leave his parents' house for four months.

Mr Ghaffer said that for a few months after the accident, he blamed the accused for what had happened to him, but he began to think differently and that Grochowicki had not meant to do this to him on purpose.

"That shift began to help me to heal emotionally and physically," he said.

Although he has to stretch up to four hours a day, realising his life will never be the same and will have to have IVF if he wants to have children, he says he is fighting to rebuild his life.

He has his own car and modified it, has traveled to a number of places such as Pakistan, Turkey and the UK, and is living independently.

He has also returned to study at ATU in Letterkenny and has a goal of becoming a criminal lawyer and barrister in Dubai.

He admitted that his entire life has to be planned and that accessibility in Ireland is still a major barrier.

He said what has happened to him has changed what his future looks like, but that he has to make something meaningful from it.

He concluded by saying he chooses to move forward, not as a victim but as someone determined to do something with his life, no matter what the circumstances.

Passing sentence on Grochowicki, Judge John Aylmer said the most aggravating factor was the "catastrophic injuries" suffered by Mr Ghaffer, which he is meeting with "incredible bravery, fortitude and enormous charity towards you", he said.

He said the court had to balance an apparent low level of culpability in circumstances in the evidence where there were no warnings signs, no road markings suggesting there was an upcoming severe bend, and it was a narrow country road.

He added it was perhaps an understandable mistake for a young driver to think that the road went straight ahead.

He said the evidence of the forensic assessor said that the speed of the driver was a contributing factor.

The Judge said his culpability lay in his failure to properly read the road ahead of him correctly and to anticipate the bend in circumstances where there was no signage.

However, he said the most culpable mistake the accused made was not to ensure that all his passengers were wearing seatbelts, saying "That is the duty of all drivers."

He placed the offence on the upper end of the scale of these types of offences and merited a sentence of 18 months in prison before mitigation.

In mitigation, he said the accused had cooperated with the investigation, had entered an early plea, clearly displayed victim empathy,  has no previous convictions, now suffering from depression. The judge reduced the sentence to one of 12 months in prison.

However, he added that in the circumstances, he was obliged to consider whether a non-custodial sentence was an appropriate one.

He added that because the accused is a young man, his culpability was so low in the manner of his driving and his absence of previous convictions, the court took the view that it should impose a sentence of 240 hours of community service in lieu of 12 months in prison.