Cyenna Diane Allimain Grace-Ngaro (25) was jailed for two years and three months when she appeared in the Dunedin District Court last week.
She was on bail at the time of the crash after beating up her ex-boyfriend inside a bank just weeks earlier and had spent time in a mental health facility.
On October 12, Grace-Ngaro — midway through serving a six-month driving ban — was smoking cannabis at her new partner’s home.
About 10.50pm, CCTV captured the defendant driving the wrong way round the Octagon, exiting at lower Stuart St in the wrong lane.
Grace-Ngaro shot through the first set of lights at 73kmh — more than double the inner city speed limit.
There was a near miss as she continued through the intersection with State Highway 1 (Cumberland St) on a red light, narrowly avoiding a collision with a vehicle travelling north.
Moments later though, she turned left instead of right on the one-way system, slamming into the victim who was waiting at the traffic lights outside the railway station in Castle St.
The 27-year-old had his headlight on and was wearing a fluorescent yellow vest along with a safety helmet.
Grace-Ngaro hit him head on at 76kmh, flinging him on to the bonnet.
"The victim was thrown through the air, repeatedly somersaulting before landing approximately 30m away from where he was first struck by the defendant," a police summary said.
The defendant got out of her car, walking past the unconscious victim.
At no point did she check on him or call emergency services and she was walking away from the scene when a bystander stalled her until police arrived.
Grace-Ngaro passed a breath-alcohol test but then refused to undertake a compulsory impairment test, claiming it was because an officer was "being a dick".
The victim underwent immediate surgery to save his leg from amputation and the injuries would "likely be carried by him for the rest of his life", doctors said.
He now used crutches and faced a second operation, all while battling anxiety and depression in the months since the incident.
Grace-Ngaro initially pleaded not guilty to reckless driving causing injury, claiming the brakes on the Toyota had failed, but Judge Kevin Phillips wrote that off as "nonsense".
He noted she had previously racked up convictions for aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary and was jailed for three and a-half years in 2018 following a spree of dairy hold-ups.
Her counsel Brendan Stephenson said regular medication in prison had improved his client’s outlook.
Grace-Ngaro, who was also convicted of assault in a family relationship, disqualified driving and refusing a compulsory impairment test, will be eligible for parole next month.
She was disqualified from driving for three years.
