Audi driver left fighting for life after airborne crash into house to be charged to drink driving
28 Aug 2013 15:07
By Natalie Evans
Lewis Richardson, 22, suffered serious head injuries when he lost control of his red Audi TT, mounted a pavement, tore through a hedge and over two cars
Shocking: The Audi was left embedded in the house
A man who was left fighting for life after his sports car flew through the air and ploughed into the side of a house is to be charged with drink-driving.
Lewis Richardson, 22, suffered serious head injuries when he lost control of his red Audi TT, mounted a pavement, tore through a hedge and over two cars.
He had to be cut free from the wreckage by firefighters following the high-speed smash, which happened in Carlton Colville, Suffolk, at around 1.45am on March 24.
Householder Paul Welham, 40, was in bed when he was woken by the impact. None of the three people inside the home were injured.
Critically-injured Richardson, from Lowestoft, was taken to James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston, Norfolk before being transferred to Addenbrooke's Hospital, in Cambridge, where he spent several weeks.
The university graduate is also to be accused of careless driving when he appears before Lowestoft magistrates in October.
A Suffolk Police spokeswoman said: "A 22-year-old man from Lowestoft has been summonsed to appear before Lowestoft magistrates on October 29 in relation to a collision in Carlton Colville on March 24.
"He is due to be charged with drink-driving and careless driving."
Shocking pictures showed the mangled Audi TT embedded in the side if the house.
Neighbour Keith Shales, 66, said: "When I got there and saw the car through the hole in the hedge I thought 'That looks serious'.
"I've seen photos of cars going into people's houses before but from the pavement, through the bushes and the cars behind it - it was like a launch pad - it must have been for him to get that high.
"I reckon he must be about four feet off the ground, I've never seen anything like it."
Weeks after the crash, Richardson's parents, Graham and Ann, wrote to their local paper, the Lowestoft Journal, to praise 999 workers who saved his life.
The couple said: "We would like to thank all the members of the emergency services who attended.
"We would also like to thank the A&E department at the James Paget University Hospital and Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge for saving our son's life.
"We are also grateful to everyone who prayed for him and who sent their good wishes to him and our family."
