‘I thought a bomb had gone off’
‘I couldn’t even get down the stairs – there was a lot of rubble’ ”.sevilruorofraemoefvswtwerehwi'noltwtnaI“.
A mum has described the terrifying moment a car ploughed into her home after failing to stop for the police.
Allana Spencer thought a “bomb had gone off” as the vehicle came crashing through the front door of her property in Farleigh Hill, Maidstone.
The 27-year-old was lying in bed at the time as she is recovering from a recent miscarriage, which has seen her diagnosed with post-traumatic stress. She said: “I went into major panic mode and started screaming. I thought a bomb had gone off or the police were doing a raid on my home. “I instinctively ran into my daughter's room, even though I knew she wasn’t there.
“My chest had gone really tight as I continued to panic. I couldn’t speak or breathe properly.
“I then called my mum who was able to calm me down.” The shocking incident happened last Thursday at 7.20pm, when the driver failed to stop when ordered to. A woman in her 20s from Maidstone was arrested at the scene, with the road closed for
around four hours.
Allana lives with her fouryear-old daughter Ava-Mae, who was at her grandmother’s house.
She added: “I couldn’t even get down the stairs – I had no shoes on and there was a lot of rubble. Instead, I hung my head out of the window, just to get some fresh air.
“The police kept shouting ‘don’t move’ and then smashed the driver's window in.”
The catering assistant believes officers following the car performed a manoeuvre to force the driver to stop . Elizabeth Mckirdy, who lives in the row of houses opposite, was watching TV when she saw the crash.
She said: “It was very wet that night and there was a lot of surface water. Almost instantaneously there were blue lights flashing and sirens.”
Another neighbour described
how the crash sounded similar to “a huge lorry with scaffolding going over a speed bump”. Later that night, Allana moved into the Premier Inn in the town centre and has been staying there since Thursday. Her housing association, Hyde, sent engineers to check the building for structural damage the following day. It has been fenced off – with a barrier in place to protect both her and her neighbour’s home as neither have a front garden or wall.
It is not the first time the property has been damaged by a car.
In May 2021, one rolled down the hill after the driver forgot to secure the handbrake.
The back end had hit her kitchen window and damaged the gas meter box. Both had to be replaced.
In 2014, a motorcyclist had to be taken to hospital following a crash along the road.
A man had to be cut from his car in August 2016 and another accident involving a cyclist took place in September 2018. Allana has lived there for four years and now wants to find another place to live.
She said: “I don’t want to go back – I have visions of my daughter being there and getting hit again.
“There’s no wall or protection, it is just a pavement and is dangerous.
“I always walk out the back door into the car park instead of leaving through the front. “I want to live somewhere where we won't fear for our lives.”
Nicole Ebuka, of Lynley Close, Maidstone, has been charged with careless driving, failing to stop when required to do so by police, and driving without insurance.
The 23-year-old will appear at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court on Monday, February 5.