Woman's car crash ordeal
By Jo Deeks on Thursday, 7th December 2000.
A YOUNG care assistant told a Crown Court jury how she only narrowly escaped from a crashed car before it burst into flames.
Jacqueline Lloyd was giving evidence at Bury St Edmunds Crown Court at the trial of Paul Brooks, 19, of Arrendene Road, Haverhill.
Brooks denies causing the death of Brian Digby, 17, also from Haverhill, by dangerous driving last November.
Steven Dyble, prosecuting, said Mr Digby did not die as a result of an accident but directly because of Brooks' driving.
He said Brooks had passed his test nine months before the accident and three months before itl had acquired a Ford Escort RS Turbo.
He had been driving Miss Lloyd and Mr Digby to Bury St Edmunds in clear road conditions, when it was cold but not icy.
Brooks had lost control of the car on a bend, where it struck a telegraph pole in half and then ploughed into a field.
He and Miss Lloyd managed to get out of the car, but Mr Digby did not.
Miss Lloyd described Brooks' driving as a bit fast and said it was "a bit rocky" when he went around corners. She was turning around and talking to Mr Digby when the accident happened. She turned back to see the telegraph pole coming towards her and she got a bang on her head which left her unconscious.
"I don't remember how I got out of the car. Brian was still in the car and people were shouting at him to get out. It was only seconds after I walked past the back of the car that it caught alight and that is when I started shouting," Miss Lloyd said.
A motorist who had been driving alone along the same stretch of road, Colin Halls, told the court a Ford Escort of either an RSi or Turbo model overtook him "very rapidly" while he was driving at around 60 mph. Minutes later he stopped at the scene of the accident, where the car was alight, to offer help.
Mr Halls said he did not notice the colour of the car and could not be certain that it was the one Brooks was driving.
When he arrived at the crash scene he had to restrain Brooks at one point to stop him trying to get back into the car.
"I never got less than 20ft from it, the heat was intense and there were live cables in the field," Mr Halls said.
Mr Dyble said Brooks had given decreasing estimates of his speed when the crash happened to witnesses afterwards. He suggested the rear suspension of the car had been lowered which could have caused it to spin at excessive speed.
Mr Dyble said expert forensic evidence would be called, suggesting that the car must have been travelling at 68 to 72 mph if the suspension spin had caused the crash, or nearer 87 mph if it were just caused by excessive speed.
The case continues.
Jacqueline Lloyd was giving evidence at Bury St Edmunds Crown Court at the trial of Paul Brooks, 19, of Arrendene Road, Haverhill.
Brooks denies causing the death of Brian Digby, 17, also from Haverhill, by dangerous driving last November.
Steven Dyble, prosecuting, said Mr Digby did not die as a result of an accident but directly because of Brooks' driving.
He said Brooks had passed his test nine months before the accident and three months before itl had acquired a Ford Escort RS Turbo.
He had been driving Miss Lloyd and Mr Digby to Bury St Edmunds in clear road conditions, when it was cold but not icy.
Brooks had lost control of the car on a bend, where it struck a telegraph pole in half and then ploughed into a field.
He and Miss Lloyd managed to get out of the car, but Mr Digby did not.
Miss Lloyd described Brooks' driving as a bit fast and said it was "a bit rocky" when he went around corners. She was turning around and talking to Mr Digby when the accident happened. She turned back to see the telegraph pole coming towards her and she got a bang on her head which left her unconscious.
"I don't remember how I got out of the car. Brian was still in the car and people were shouting at him to get out. It was only seconds after I walked past the back of the car that it caught alight and that is when I started shouting," Miss Lloyd said.
A motorist who had been driving alone along the same stretch of road, Colin Halls, told the court a Ford Escort of either an RSi or Turbo model overtook him "very rapidly" while he was driving at around 60 mph. Minutes later he stopped at the scene of the accident, where the car was alight, to offer help.
Mr Halls said he did not notice the colour of the car and could not be certain that it was the one Brooks was driving.
When he arrived at the crash scene he had to restrain Brooks at one point to stop him trying to get back into the car.
"I never got less than 20ft from it, the heat was intense and there were live cables in the field," Mr Halls said.
Mr Dyble said Brooks had given decreasing estimates of his speed when the crash happened to witnesses afterwards. He suggested the rear suspension of the car had been lowered which could have caused it to spin at excessive speed.
Mr Dyble said expert forensic evidence would be called, suggesting that the car must have been travelling at 68 to 72 mph if the suspension spin had caused the crash, or nearer 87 mph if it were just caused by excessive speed.
The case continues.
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