A TEENAGER told police she was lucky to be alive after a car crashed into the front room of her family home.

Naveed Hussain, the driver of the Audi A3 that crashed into the Battenhall Rise house in March, narrowly avoided jail after admitting to driving without due care and attention, and fleeing the scene, when he appeared in court yesterday.

Robert Whitehouse, prosecuting at Worcester Magistrates Court, said: "It happened at 10.20pm on March 23.

"As he approached a 90 degree bend on Battenhall Road he effectively drove straight on, through the garden and into the house, injuring the family.

"He ran from the scene, not checking if anyone was there.

"It caused £30,000 worth of damage."

Magistrates heard that Natasha Beattie, 15, and her mum Melanie went to hospital after the crash, with the teenager treated for a broken collarbone, broken ribs and a fracture to her shoulder, while Mrs Beattie suffered broken ribs and a punctured left lung.

Mr Whitehouse read out a victim statement from the teenager which described the car coming through as "like a bomb going off", and the front room, where the family had been sitting on sofas, being completely destroyed and plunged into darkness.

"I was knocked unconscious and I woke up metres away from where I had been sitting," she said.

"I was crying in shock. I could not feel the right side of my head. I couldn't stand up.

"Due to my injuries, I had to take days off school when I was studying for my GCSEs.

"The accident is constantly in my mind.

"If the car would have been a few inches further, I could have been killed."

Mr Whitehouse told the court that Mrs Beattie had said in a statement that she "no longer felt safe in her own home".

In a police interview, Hussain said he crashed because he'd swerved to avoid a fox in the road but when officers challenged this, as the car had gone in a straight line, he said he "didn't have time to react".

Mr Whitehouse highlighted that Hussain, of Wylds Lane, had a previous conviction for failing to stop, and argued he had not shown any remorse over this crash.

Paul Stanley, defending Hussain, said: "He made full admissions to what had taken place.

"He had not been drinking or taken drugs. It was a loss of concentration that he accepts.

"It has been 10 years since his last offence – there is nothing since this regrettable incident."

A probation report found that the 26-year-old had fled the crash as he panicked and felt shaken afterwards, but accepted it was considerably worse for the victims.

Hussain, a father-of-three who works at Worcester Bosch, was recommended for a community order where his thinking skills could be improved.

Magistrates, who considered all sentencing options including prison, gave Hussain an 18-month community order which will include 19 sessions of the programme, 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days. He was also given 10 points on his licence and was told to complete 120 hours of unpaid work.

Hussain was also fined £345 and ordered to pay courts costs of £135, and a victim surcharge of £85 – a total of £565.