A woman who admitted causing “horrendous” injuries to a motorcycle rider in a three-vehicle collision was warned that she could face time behind bars yesterday.

Melina Abanto Saldivar, 45, admitted causing Carolina Orellana-Henriquez grievous bodily harm by careless driving in an incident on October 24, 2023.

She also admitted causing grievous bodily harm driving without a valid driving licence and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.

The court heard that the charges were related to a three-vehicle collision at the junction of Coney Island Road and North Shore Road in Hamilton Parish.

Ms Orellana-Henriquez was riding a motorcycle east on North Shore Road with a car driven by a witness travelling behind her at about 5.40pm.

As they approached the junction with Coney Island Road, they saw a white jeep travelling westward at high speed veer into the eastbound lane.

Cindy Clarke, the Director of Public Prosecutions, said: “The rider attempted to take evasive action by pulling farther to the left; however, the car being driven by the defendant collided with the motorcycle in the eastbound lane, throwing the rider off her cycle on to the roadway.”

The jeep then collided with the driver’s side of the second car before continuing to travel west without stopping.

Police arrived on the scene and gave first aid to Ms Orellana-Henriquez and passed on the description of the white jeep involved in the collision.

Officers tracked the vehicle to Radnor Road at about 7.10pm, finding the vehicle with moderate damage to its front driver’s side and what appeared to be blood and flesh.

The court heard Saldivar admitted being the driver and that before the collision she had been at a party at Tobacco Bay, where she said she drank “two beers”.

Ms Orellana-Henriquez suffered serious trauma and “degloving” to her right foot in the collision and still has limited movement in her ankle.

The court heard that she is expected to undergo further surgeries to repair the injuries.

Puisne Judge Alan Richards described photographs of the injuries as being “frankly pretty horrendous”.

Ms Clarke said that Saldivar’s actions had “crossed the custody threshold” and, even with a discount for her guilty pleas, a period of incarceration should be expected.

Ms Clarke said the most serious of the charges, causing grievous bodily harm by careless driving, was aggravated by her failure to stop after the collision and her lack of a driving licence.

She added that Bermuda was facing a “plague” of driving offences and a message needed to be sent that careless driving would not be tolerated.

However, in all the circumstances of the case, she suggested that an “intermittent” sentence could be appropriate with Saldivar serving 90 days behind bars broken up over the course of the next year.

Elizabeth Christopher, for Saldivar, said the defendant felt awful about what happened and the injuries suffered by Ms Orellana-Henriquez.

“In light of everything that has transpired and how badly my client feels about the collision, she has said she’s willing to have an intermittent sentence,” she said.

Ms Christopher noted that Saldivar’s driving licence had expired; it was not a case that she had never sought a licence and chose to drive anyway.

Mr Justice Richards adjourned the matter until later this month for his sentence and released Saldivar on bail.

However, he warned the defendant that her release on bail was not an indication that she would not receive a prison sentence.

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