A man who admitted fracturing a woman’s spine during a traffic collision was shown leniency after he was allowed to drive for work.

Jason Stovell, 36, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm to Janet Madeiros by driving without due care when he appeared in Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

The court heard that Stovell drove through a red light on Church Street at its intersection with Court Street and struck Ms Madeiros’s car.

The collision fractured Ms Madeiros’s L1 vertebra and sacrum, both of which are in the lower back.

Both cars were badly damaged but Stovell was uninjured.

The incident happened on September 22 last year.

Richard Horseman, for the defence, said that his client needed his licence to support himself financially and asked that he still be able to drive for work.

He argued that, while disqualification from driving was mandatory in cases of careless driving, magistrates still had the power to make exceptions for some circumstances.

Magistrate Craig Attridge allowed Stovell, from St George’s, to drive for work — but barred him from operating a vehicle under any other circumstances for 18 months.

He also fined Stovell $2,000.

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