Marian Kabah jailed for Eid festival crash
A woman whose car ploughed into worshippers leaving an Eid festival was suffering from fasting-induced insomnia, a court has heard.
Seven people were hurt when Marian Kabah's car left the road outside Westgate Road Community College in Newcastle, in June 2017.
Appearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Kabah admitted two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
The 42-year-old, of Meadow Lane, Gateshead, was jailed for 16 months.
She was also banned from driving for two years.
The court heard that an eight-year-old boy, Zaryab Rajib, sustained brain damage in the crash and still has sight and hearing problems.
The court heard that Kabah was with family and friends at the college celebrating the end of Ramadan.
After the event finished she got into her Nissan Juke to go home, but lost control near the exit, ploughing into the crowd.
It happened the day after a terror incident in London when a car was driven into a group of people outside a mosque in Finsbury Park, and police initially thought it was terror-related, the court heard.
Sgt Jason Ryder, of Northumbria Police, said: "It is extremely lucky that nobody was killed as a result of her actions, but the lives of some of her victims and their families will never be the same again."