Churchgoer killed after car mounts pavement

ONE WOMAN died and another woman and her four-year-old granddaughter were seriously injured after being struck by a car as they left church yesterday, writes Graham Moorby.

The three - all members of the same family - were hit by the car which mounted the pavement and collided with a telegraph pole as they were leaving Little Dawley Methodist Church in Telford, Shropshire. Two teenagers were caught by passers-by as they tried to flee and a man aged 20 was captured later. They were being questioned by police last night.

Both women were flown by air ambulance to Birmingham General Hospital, where Evelyn Philips, 60, who was visiting Britain from Australia, later died.

Her sister-in-law, June Smith, also 60, from Little Dawley, suffered serious spinal and leg injuries and was in a 'serious' condition last night. Mrs Smith's granddaughter Rebecca, of Trench, Telford, was taken to Telford Hospital suffering from head injuries and was kept in overnight for observation.

Richard Smith, 33, spoke of his anger yesterday over the accident which killed his aunt and badly injured his mother and daughter. 'They just expected to go to church on a beautiful sunny . . . morning and safely walk home.'

An 18-year-old passenger leaning out of a car window was killed yesterday when the vehicle overshot a bend in Ruislip, north-west London, and his head was crushed against a wall.