Dance teacher whose friend suffered serious brain injuries spared jail

A dance teacher has been spared prison after her 18-year-old friend was left with severe brain injuries from a ‘prank’, having fallen out of the boot of her car.

Evie Robinson, who was 19 at the time of the incident, was driving a white Audi A1 in a car park in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, in August last year while her two friends sat in the boot of her car.

Robinson then accelerated away, causing both of the girls to fall out, leaving the victim with severe head injuries after she collided with the floor.

Before the incident, the court heard how the teenage victim joined others in sitting on the roof of a separate car as it drove ‘forwards and backwards’, which ‘set the scene for a prank that had gone seriously wrong’. 

The now-20-year-old was handed on Wednesday a two-year sentence, suspended by two years, after Judge Robert Egbuna described the incident as ‘a prank that had gone seriously wrong’. 

The judge said: ‘You did not set out, nor did any of your friends who ended up in the boot of your car, contemplate the actions that would cause life-threatening injuries that happened when the tragic events unfolded.’

In a victim statement, the victim’s mother said her daughter ‘lost her future and dignity’ after the incident and her daughter, who was aspiring to be a vet, was previously ‘so full of life, filled with boundless energy.’

The mother, reading to court, continued: ‘She can no longer drive and still attends, to date, speech and language sessions. She suffers mood changes and seizures, and as a consequence, her education has been set back. 

Evie Robinson (pictured) has been spared prison after her 18-year-old friend was left with severe brain injuries from a ‘prank’, having fallen out of the boot of her friend’s car

Robinson, 20 (pictured), was told by the victim’s mother: ‘Single-handed, you have broken my daughter’

‘It is right that Evie Robinson went to the hospital and admitted she was the driver of the vehicle. 

‘Prior to the accident people were present and [the victim] and others were climbing on to a car and holding on to the roof, driven by someone else unidentified, which was then driven forwards and backwards. It is submitted that set the scene for a prank that had gone seriously wrong.’

Amelia Trem, prosecuting, said the incident took place in a car park between the Odeon Cinema and Nando’s restaurant in Park Lane on August 5, 2025.

She said Robinson was socialising with the victim and other friends, and the victim suggested they get into the boot of the car while another girl got into the passenger seat as she drove off. 

Ms Trem added: ‘The car moved so quickly that [the passenger] said to the defendant “slow down Evie, you are going too fast”.

‘Almost immediately [one girl in the boot] fell onto her backside and hit her head but [the victim] fell face first and was lying on the ground not moving.

‘At first they thought she was playing or joking, but they became increasingly concerned and [a boy at the scene] rang for an ambulance.’

The victim was initially taken to King’s Mill Hospital and then transferred to the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, where she had CT scans to her head, neck, chest and abdomen. The doctors found a 5mm deep bleed to the head. 

The prosecutor said: ‘Following surgery, she was transferred to the critical care unit, where she remained in an induced coma for a week.

‘She was then on a ward for six weeks, where she suffered seizures.’

Ms Trem said following the incident, Robinson, of Mansfield, was interviewed on two separate occasions by the police and answered ‘no comment’ to the questions she was asked.

But she later pleaded guilty to causing serious injury through dangerous driving and has no previous convictions.

In a victim impact statement by the teenager’s mother, she said: ‘As a result of you and what you did, she needed specialist rehabilitation and could not come home to the house where she had lived since she was three.

‘She lost her independence, her dignity and the future she worked so hard for.

‘(She) had so many hopes and dreams aspiring for a career in veterinary medicine.

‘But 139 days after her 18th birthday, she was robbed of her future. ‘Single-handed, you have broken my daughter.’

Lucky Thandi, defending, said there were 16 character references in support of her client, that the incident was ‘over a short distance and over a short period of time’ and that she is ‘riddled with guilt’ for her actions.

She said: ‘(Earlier) there is CCTV footage of (the victim) almost on the roof of another vehicle, which is reversed, then driven forwards, then reversed, and that was not a vehicle being driven by Miss Robinson.

‘She is clinging to the vehicle. Evie takes responsibility for her actions. 

‘The day in question had been like any other for her and her friends, and there had been no intention for that night to end in the way it did.

‘The references talk of someone who is a hard-working, kind and valued member of the community.

‘She is a talented dancer, which has led to her teaching dancing, and she works as a choreographer for the Happy Feet Dance Studios.

‘It is accepted the offence crosses the custodial threshold and Miss Robinson is under no illusion as to the seriousness of her situation.

‘A suspended sentence order would hang over her head and act as a deterrent, and I will be inviting (the court to take) an exceptional course.

‘Since this incident in August last year, there has been no further offending. With her sentence will be a life sentence of guilt.’

As part of the suspended sentence, the judge ordered the defendant to attend 150 hours of unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation sessions.

He also disqualified Robinson from driving for four years.