Exclusive – The wife of a man left catastrophically disabled when a scrambler landed on him while he was sunbathing in Dublin says the government should be ashamed that the vehicles are still not banned.
Anzhela Kotsinian and her husband Ilabek Avetian
The wife of a man who suffered catastrophic brain injuries when a scrambler landed on him says the government should be ashamed that the vehicles are not banned yet.
Ilabek Avetian had just moved to Ireland from Lithuania to begin a new life when the scrambler came over a hill and landed on his head – while he was sunbathing in Darndale Park, Coolock, on June 9, 2018.
The crash left him with life changing injuries, including a severe brain injury – and he last year settled a High Court action with Dublin City Council and the Motor Insurer’s Bureau of Ireland for €5.2million.
Ilabek’s heartbroken wife Anzhela spoke exclusively to this paper today in the wake of the tragic death of 16 year old Grace Lynch, who was struck by a scrambler on the Ratoath Road in Finglas last Sunday.
Speaking from Russia where she is now living, Anzhela Kostinian told us: “I had read the story about the 16 year old girl. It’s very tragic. The scrambler problem is still going on.
“My husband is in the nursing home. He is absolutely disabled. He has a short memory, he can’t walk, can’t eat, can’t talk. He is saying a separate words only. He’s had a lot of problems with his health,” she said.
Ilabek Avetian in Beaumont Hospital
Anzhela, who has suffered her own health difficulties ever since the horror crash that ruined her husband’s life, also revealed her own recent struggles: “I’m in Russia now, because I got cancer a second time. My first cancer diagnosis was in 2020, two years after the accident.
“Me and my husband’s life was broken by two teenagers who never said sorry and who are living a whole life and never remembered our accident.”
This week Taoiseach Michael Martin told the Dail that he intends to ensure that scramblers are banned. Speaking today, Anzhela said the government should be ashamed that such actions weren’t taken sooner.
“It’s the shame of Irish Government that teenagers and their parents are not protected under the law. How many people, kids are getting a different injured or killed?
“Our lives have stopped. I want to send a message to everyone that these kind of accidents can happen to you unless there’s a change in the law. Don’t stop your fight against scramblers.”
Anzhela Kotsinian and Ilabek Avetian(Image: Olivia Lynott)
Offering her support to the family of Grace Lynch she added: “I want to support and say I’m so sorry to the Mum and family of this girl. My fight is going on eight years. I don’t believe that anything will be changed but I want to try one last time.”
Anzhela added that her life had been exceptionally hard since the crash – and her heart goes out to Grace’s family, who she says are going through the same.
“The 23th of January was ours 13 year anniversary and eight years he is disabled. I’m living with emotional pain and this family (Grace Lynch’s) will have it too. It’s hard, it’s sad. I am not Irish and I can’t change a lots of things in Ireland, but you can and don’t stop fighting,” she said.
Anzhela Kotsinian(Image: Olivia Lynott)
Her comments come as the government has indicated it intends to enact legislation to finally ban the use of scramblers. Speaking in the Dail, Taoiseach Michael Martin said he understood the “anger” of the people in working class areas, particularly in Finglas.
“There is no need, there should be no scramblers on public roads,” he said. “We have it within our power to make that happen and it will happen. But that said, nothing can ever ease that devastation that the Lynch family have felt with the loss of Grace from that collision the other night.
“But rest assured we are, and I’ve spoken to the Minister this morning and so forth. That work needs to be completed. Progress was made on a number of fronts. But that needs to be completed,” he said.
Anzhela Kotsinian and Ilabek Avetian(Image: Olivia Lynott)
It comes as this paper revealed how gardai fear prosecution if they pursue scramblers – as they’re technically not trained to do so.
Detective Garda Mark Ferris, who is a GRA Rep for the DMR West said the crash which claimed Grace’s life last Sunday had deeply affected officers across the community. But he said that sadly nothing has changed over the years for gardai to be able to stop young thugs speeding through the area on scramblers, scooters and e-bikes.
The simple fact is that members of An Garda Síochána are not trained to pursue vehicles, not cars, and certainly not scramblers, which are far more unpredictable and dangerous,” he said.
In a statement gardai told us that officers can pursue scramblers in certain circumstances where they first report what is happening to the control room, awaiting a risk assessment and then approval. They also stated that new legislation had allowed gardai to crack down on scramblers, seizing more of them than in any previous years.
Providing figures to prove what it said was evidence of the impact of this approach, gardai said that between January 1 and October 30 of 2025, a total of 449 scramblers, quads, e-bikes, and e-scooters were seized in the DMR.
“This marks a steady rise and effective performance in this particular area of policing when compared with figures from the same period in previous years: 128 seizures in 2024, 67 in 2023, 63 in 2022, and 65 in 2021. These figures are indicative of the DMR’s robust and operationally active policing response to this issue,” gardai said.
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