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Mum-to-be's shock on hottest night

From the Abingdon Herald, first published Thursday 27th Jul 2006.

MUM-TO-BE Jane Newton told of her shock after a speeding car crashed into her bathroom minutes after she stepped out of the shower.

Mrs Newton, who is seven months' pregnant, and husband Edmund were just getting off to sleep when a Honda CR-V crashed into their bathroom wall, which faces the corner of Mattock Way and Twelve Acre Drive at Abingdon.

Minutes after the smash, just before midnight on Wednesday last week, police arrested a 25-year-old woman on suspicion of drink-driving.

Mrs Newton, 31, a marketing officer for the National Blood Service, said: "It was the hottest day of the year, so I had a shower just before I went to bed.

"I had just dropped off and I was woken by this horrendous screech. Then there was a really loud bang and the whole flat shook.

"I am having a baby in a few weeks' time, and we have just decorated the flat to get it ready, so this is the last thing we need."

The crash caused major damage to the brickwork of the Newtons' downstairs flat in Sadlers Court and left cracks on the inside of their bathroom wall.

Mr Newton, 31, a finance manager at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, said: "We have contacted our insurers so they can send out a surveyor to see if there is any structural damage.

"It's very worrying, and until someone comes, we don't really know how safe the flat is to live in."

Avril Page, 65, a former Oxford City Council personnel officer who lives in the flat above the Newtons, said she also heard a screech of brakes before the vehicle crashed.

She added: "There is a zig-zag crack going right up the wall into my flat and I am frightened to flush my toilet because I am worried the pipework has been damaged.

"I suffer from angina, and every time a car drives past now I feel tense. The more I think about this, the more worried I am, but we will just have to see what the structural engineer says."

Mrs Newton said the driver came to their flat to apologise after crashing the car, and told them she had missed the turning while driving some friends home.

"It's all very well to say sorry, but my bathroom has been totally wrecked," said Mrs Newton.

She said two male passengers ran off after the crash.

James Clements, a spokesman for Thames Valley Police, said a 25-year-old woman was arrested at the scene on suspicion of driving under the influence of drink. She was released on police bail without charge until August 22.

An Oxfordshire Ambulance Service spokesman said the driver and passengers did not need treatment.

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