Ex-vet nurse mows down beauty queen (From Barry And District News)

Ex-vet nurse mows down beauty queen

AN ex-veterinary nurse from Barry has been jailed for 15 months and banned from driving for three years after mowing down a beauty contestant out of jealousy over her looks.

Sonja Oliver, aged 33, who worked at Petherton Veterinary Surgery on Broad Street, borrowed a friend's BMW and ploughed into Brooke Cameron, aged 20, outside a nightclub in Pentre in the Rhondda on February 22, 2004.

Merthyr Crown Court heard that Oliver, from Penrhiwfer near Tonyrefail, drove into Miss Cameron, who was dragged beneath the car, which then hit a parked van.

Oliver fled the scene, but turned herself in to a police station the following day.

Ms Cameron almost lost her arm, and the injury could have shattered her dreams of a modelling career, the court was told.

Doctors at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital said that her arm was "a hair's breadth from having to be amputated".

Miss Cameron told the court she had suffered two years of "bitchiness" and "snide comments" from Oliver over her looks.

But Oliver claimed the attack was an accident, saying the brakes on the car "felt spongy".

She had spent the day watching a Six Nations match at Penygraig Rugby Club, before moving on to Fagin's pub, then to the nightclub near where the incident occurred.

Witnesses reported seeing her down a pint of lager, although Oliver claimed to have only had two pints of lager and lime all day.

Following the attack, Ms Cameron had to go through weeks of physiotherapy and needed help from her family to do basic chores like cooking and ironing.

She now has a four-and-a-half-inch scar on her right elbow, and only limited use of her arm. Nevertheless, six months later she won a place at the Miss Wales final.

Oliver was found guilty of unlawful wounding and dangerous driving but cleared of wounding with intent.