Westhoughton: BMW driver 'deliberately' rammed pensioners' home

Michael Vose, aged 40, badly injured 92-year-old Edna Kearns when he crashed his car into her home on White Horse Grove, Westhoughton, in the early hours of November 28 last year.

Mrs Kearns, a retired civil servant, was flung from her bed and was taken to hospital with leg injuries, Vose having crashed into her home despite the pensioner having been in the habit of leaving a light on the show it was occupied.

Alistair Reid, prosecuting said: “Police officers saw no evidence that this was anything other than a deliberate act.”

On how he had acted afterwards, he added: “There was no effort to seek any form of assistance.”

Mr Reid told the court how Vose, of Mount Pleasant Avenue, St Helens, had crashed into the innocent pensioner's house at around 5.15am in an attempt to end his own life, despite Mrs Kearns having left a light on to show that the bungalow was occupied.

This came after drunkenly assaulting his then girlfriend at her Westhoughton flat after a night out.

Earlier that night he had twice put his hands around his girlfriend’s neck and had caused more than £1000 worth of damage to her flat, including smashing a bedroom mirror after drunkenly accusing her of cheating on him.

Edna Kearns, 92 (Image: Newsquest)

Footage shown by police officers who attended the scene showed blood on the floor and the bedroom left in a mess.

That same night, Vose got in his BMW X6 and drove down Chew Moor Lane, before driving directly over a roundabout and into Mrs Kearns’ home.

Police eventually found him walking down the middle of a dual carriageway and arrested him.

A victim impact statement prepared by Mrs Kearns said she would "never be the same person again", that she had had to stay in hospital over Christmas and that she feared that she had lost her independence as a result.

Mrs Kearns died at Royal Bolton Hospital on April 8, but medics did not attribute this as having been caused by the crash.

In an unusual move, prosecutor Mr Reid then read out Vose’s defence himself, with the defendant not represented in court due to the ongoing barristers’ strike.

He pointed out that Vose had already been in custody for nearly 10 months where he had been “locked in his cell, living with the guilt of what he had done” and had pleaded guilty to all four of his charges.

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These were for assaulting his girlfriend and causing criminal damage to her flat and for injuring Mrs Kearns by dangerous driving and causing criminal damage to her home.

Mr Reid said that Vose had been truly remorseful for what he had done to Mrs Kearns.

He said: “He does not expect forgiveness from the family but he wants it known that if he could turn back time he would do so.”

Vose will learn his fate tomorrow morning, Tuesday, when the Honorary Recorder for Bolton, Judge Martin Walsh, will pass his sentence.