A woman crashed her people carrier through a nursery playground fence, trapping a two-year-old boy under her wheel. Jayne James, 63, had driven her grey Omoda people carrier into the car park of Sunny Days Nursery on Vale Road, Ellesmere Port, on June 16 at school drop-off.
James's car careered forward at pace and crashed into a wooden fence separating the car park from the nursery playground, which held 22 children aged two or three. The car continued through the playground before crashing into a brick wall, pinning a two-year-old boy between the front wheel of the vehicle and the wall itself.
Child pulled from under car
A nursery staff member quickly intervened and managed to pull the pinned child out from under the car and called the emergency services. The child sustained a considerable friction burn on their torso, believed to be attributed to the still moving wheel that they had become trapped under.
Two other children were also injured by flying debris as the Omoda crashed through the fence, sustaining minor injuries. All three children were taken to hospital for treatment and have since been discharged.
Driver arrested at scene
James was arrested at the scene and taken into custody. In interview, she told officers she had been driving the vehicle at the time of the crash but could not remember any specific details as to how it occurred. She said she had been driving the vehicle for a number of months but mentioned that there was a feature on the automatic Omoda that meant it would begin to accelerate if a certain pedal was pressed while it was stationary, Cheshire Constabulary said.
Following an examination of the vehicle by officers, it was determined to have no mechanical faults that could have caused or contributed toward the crash.
Court sentencing
Detective Sergeant Amy Hollis, of Cheshire Constabulary's serious collision investigation unit, said: "The lives of over 20 young children were put at serious risk as a result of James' inability to control her vehicle. Three of them were injured, one of them was trapped between the vehicle and a brick wall, all of them were left scared."
James, of Knottingley Drive in Great Sutton, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at Chester Magistrates' Court. She was sentenced to four months' imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and given a two-year driving ban.
