'What about MY life sentence?' Furious makeup artist confronts lawyer who left her permanently disabled in horror crash - and accuses her of staying in her car instead of trying to help
An award-winning makeup artist has confronted the lawyer who slammed into her motorbike and left her permanently disabled.
Lucy Woolfman, 35, was sent flying six feet into the air when Jennifer Croker turned into her path at the intersection of Margaret St and Clarence St in Sydney’s CBD on September 9 last year.
The 36-year-old Gordon woman failed to give way at the traffic lights before making a right turn, hitting the oncoming motorbike.
Ms Woolfman suffered a brain bleed, fractured spine, punctured lung, shattered kneecap, broken ribs and a broken foot, while Ms Croker and her car were unscathed.
Lucy Woolfman , 35, was left permanently disabled after a car ploughed into her motorbike in Sydney's CBD in September last year
Ms Croker was convicted of negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm and fined $1500, placed on a two-year community corrections order and banned from driving for two years.
Ms Woolfman, who is unable to work and requires carers to carry out everyday tasks, is now speaking out.
The lawyer has also appealed the severity of her sentence.
Bystanders who rushed to her aid as she lay on the road struggling to breathe said the human rights lawyer did not emerge from her car to check on Ms Woolfman after the crash, A Current Affair reported.
'All I could hear were people around me talking about me, asking if I was breathing -trying to tie off my leg because they thought I was going to bleed out,' Ms Woolfman said.
'How could she not check if I was not OK? I could have been dead. How could she not check?'
CCTV footage of the incident shows Ms Croker remaining in her vehicle even as emergency teams arrived on the scene 12 minutes later.
The former film industry worker's horrific injuries prevented her from attending her mother's funeral after she passed away from COVID-19 in the UK earlier this year.
Ms Woolfman claimed she approached the driver after the first court hearing to seek closure but Ms Croker walked away and did not take the opportunity to apologise.
Ms Woolfman suffered a brain bleed, punctured lung, shattered kneecap, broken ribs, a broken foot and fractured spine
Prior to the incident, Ms Woolfman enjoyed a career as an award-winning makeup artist. She is pictured at the 2019 AACTA Awards
Ms Woolfman was flanked by more than a dozen supporters as she attended court on Tuesday, where Ms Croker appealed her sentence.
The lawyer's driving disqualification was reduced to 12 months.
'She thinks she has been punished too severely, but I ask - what about my sentence? What about my life sentence that she has given me?' Ms Woolfman said.
The court heard of the devastating impact Ms Woolfman's injuries have had on her happiness, marriage, employment and relationships with friends and family.
Ms Croker's lawyers argued her sentence should be reduced to allow her to support her elderly mother, who she was visiting on the night of the crash.
The humanitarian lawyer claimed she stayed at the scene for three hours after the crash.
Human rights lawyer Jennifer Croker won an appeal to her sentence at court on Tuesday, with her driving disqualification reduced to 12 months
'I am so, so sorry for what happened,' she said.
'I wanted to send flowers to the hospital but the police wouldn't let me. It's all been a disaster.'
In delivering the sentence, the appeal judge said the punishment must account for the harm done to Ms Woolfman.
'If the appellant was keeping a proper lookout she should have seen the coming towards her,' he said, the Daily Telegraph reports.
'The offender must be accountable for her actions of this night.'