A woman will not spend any time behind bars after she sped through a red light while drunk before crashing into a then-Greens MP.

Rani Paige Lowry, 27, was charged over the collision that seriously injured Amy MacMahon in Kangaroo Point on February 12, 2024.

Lowry was driving at 90km/h in a 60km/h zone around sunset on a Monday evening when she ran a red light at an intersection.

As MacMahon started driving when the light turned green, Lowry ploughed into her car.

CCTV showed the state MP’s vehicle slide 180 degrees near where a pedestrian was about to cross the road, while Lowry’s car skidded 60 metres south.

Lowry watched the CCTV footage played to Brisbane District Court today, wiping her eyes and sniffling as she broke down in tears.

Data showed Lowry’s car accelerated five seconds before the crash and did not apply the brakes as she hit MacMahon’s at 83km/h.

Both were taken to the hospital, where MacMahon was in a coma for some time, suffering a traumatic brain injury and damage to her carotid artery. 

Judge David Kent said it is a miracle of modern engineering that no one was killed.

Lowry returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.186, which is more than three times the legal limit.

MacMahon was in hospital for two weeks and underwent treatment for six months.

Although MacMahon sustained severe injuries, she did not appear in court and requested through her victim impact statement that Lowry avoid jail time. Instead, she emphasized the need for Lowry to undergo rehabilitation to prevent a recurrence.

She even offered to help Lowry find community work for her rehabilitation.

Judge Kent commended the “compassion and emotional maturity” of MacMahon’s statement.

The court was told Lowry’s father had been killed in a car crash years earlier. 

Lowry had fallen back into her longstanding struggle with alcohol dependence due to childhood trauma compounded by the recent passing of her brother, her lawyer, Jack Kennedy, explained to the court.

On the day of the accident, Lowry had been at a venue with friends seeking emotional support but ended up drinking excessively before departing and causing the collision.

She had expressed extreme remorse since the incident, suffering such shame and guilt that she considered ending her own life, Kennedy said.

Lowry wrote a letter to MacMahon to apologise for the crash and wanted to see the former MP in person to express her remorse.

Lowry pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of a vehicle causing grievous bodily harm while adversely affected by an intoxicating substance.

She was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and was eligible for parole on Friday, meaning she would not spend any time in custody.

Judge Kent said Lowry should never pick up another alcoholic drink in her life.

“This is a serious example of dangerous operation while intoxicated which had serious consequences,” he said.

MacMahon lost her South Brisbane seat in the October state election.