A MAN was standing in the kitchen of his former toll-house home near Alcester when he heard a noise like a low-flying jet as a suicidal driver aimed straight at the house.
Moments later a silver Ford Fiesta ploughed into the house, ending up in the dining room, causing £80,000 damage and injuring driver Grant Bond and the householder’s student daughter.
The 23-year-old pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to charges of causing damage being reckless whether life was endangered and dangerous driving.
Bond, of Alluana Avenue, Alcester, was jailed for two-and-a-half years and disqualified from driving for two years, after which he will have to take an extended test before getting his licence back.
In the early hours of August 15, Bond called police to say he was driving his car but was feeling suicidal however he did not want to get arrested because that would make him panic.
At 5.30am Barry Lea was in the kitchen of his former toll-house home, South Lodge on the Evesham Road at Weethley near Alcester, when he heard a noise he described as ‘like a low-flying jet.’
When he looked out of the window he saw a silver-coloured car flying towards the house at around 80mph. The car ploughed into the house with tremendous force, ending up part-way into the dining room and injuring Mr Lea’s 20-year-old student daughter who was still in bed.
Unable to get to her room from inside, Mr Lea had to go outside and rescue his daughter, who had suffered whiplash and other injuries and still has flashbacks and nightmares, through the window of her bedroom. The building was severely damaged, and it took some months at an estimated cost of £80,000 to put it right.
Bond was badly injured in the smash including a suspected fractured pelvis.
He later said he had very little memory of the incident after he called police but could recall crying his eyes out just before driving at the house.
Bond said he had had problems since the death of his father when he was 15, as well as other problems in his life, adding that he had taken half a bottle of Nightol sleeping tablets and alcohol, and had called the Samaritans as well as the police.
Geoffrey Dann, defending, said Bond had not realised it was an occupied house but a wall or corner shop and prison would punish Bond but not address his issues.
Judge Richard Griffith-Jones accepted that but added it was a very serious crime when someone tried to kill themself by risking other people’s lives.
“It was such a wicked act and had such devastating consequences only a custodial sentence can be justified.”
