A man has pleaded guilty to throwing a traffic cone off a bridge in Edinburgh in an incident that permanently injured a Galway woman.
Australian national Andrew Smith (30) appeared before Edinburgh High Court today and pleaded guilty to culpable and reckless conduct on November 19th last year when he threw a traffic cone from George IV bridge 40 feet below onto Merchant Street.
It hit Kate Flannery (24), of Beech Court, Galway, as she walked home from a friend's graduation ceremony, leaving her with a fractured skull, three fractured vertebrae in her spine, and a broken ankle.
She spent more than three months in hospital. Her arms and legs were paralysed because of damage to her spinal cord.
Prosecuting counsel Alex Prentice said Ms Flannery and her family had indicated they "bear no ill-will" against Smith and that they do not wish to see him jailed.
The court heard that when Smith heard about the student's injuries he went voluntarily to the police. At first he told them he could not remember what had happened, but then he admitted throwing the cone.
Ms Flannery was studying occupational therapy at Edinburgh's Queen Margaret University College and was due to graduate in August.
Doctors said it was "pure chance" that she was not paralysed for life. The skull fracture could also have caused bleeding in her brain but did not.
Last December Ms Flannery had an operation to use bone from her hip to repair damage to her spine. Her arms and legs gradually got stronger, and she left hospital in February.
The court heard it is likely her limbs will be weakened for the rest of her life, and that she runs an increased risk of arthritis in later life.