A central Victorian man admits he was "pretty pissed" when he backed his car into his then girlfriend, drove forward and then reversed over her again.
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Zachary Bannon knocked down the woman with the first strike then, as she tried to scramble from behind the car, he reversed again.
One of the rear wheels drove between her legs and onto her stomach. The car stopped moving, but the wheel continued to spin.
She suffered a burst bladder and multiple fractures. She also sustained cuts that required skin grafts, and despite five surgeries, she still struggles and her prognosis is unclear.
Bannon, then 25, had at least 12 standard drinks in the hours before the January 2017 incident and told police his view behind the car was as clear as it could have been, "like, with the alcohol impairing me".
The now-28-year-old was jailed for 10 months on Monday after admitting dangerous driving causing serious injury to the young woman on his family property at Kamarooka, near Bendigo.
After an argument on the car ride home from drinking with friends, the woman went to go sleep in her car.
But after seeing Bannon heading to his vehicle again, she went to speak to him.
Walking toward the back of his car she waved her arms to get his attention.
He told police after the incident that even if she remained standing after the first strike he doubted he would have noticed her there given the amount of alcohol he'd consumed.
County Court Judge Howard Mason described Bannon's driving as patently dangerous, particularly his decision not to investigate what he'd struck after first running down the young woman.
He acknowledged Bannon had mental health issues that would make prison difficult, but described the man's self-medication with alcohol as a contributing factor to the incident.
He ordered Bannon also undergo assessment and treatment for alcohol abuse, and complete 150 hours of community work.
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Australian Associated Press
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