Driver crashes into baby's bedroom

MARK TAYLOR/Waikato Times

LUCKY ESCAPE: Hamilton resident Lynda Johnston holds her 18-month-old niece, Katherine Abbott, who was sleeping in a room which an SUV crashed into early this morning.

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The Isuzu Bighorn crashed into the Hamilton home around 12.45am, bringing down powerlines and waking the sleeping child, police said.

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A alleged drink-driver ploughed into the side of a Hamilton house this morning, taking out one of its piles and narrowly missing a sleeping 18-month-old girl.

Both Katherine Abbott and the 41-year-old driver escaped injury after the "spectacular" crash on Hyde Ave, Nawton, about 12.40am today.

Katherine's mother, Mary-anne Abbott, 35, said she normally slept in bed with her daughter but had fallen asleep on the couch.

She was then woken by a loud bang as her house jolted.

"I felt the whole house just moving and ran into my room, and forgot my baby was there and nearly ran into her. She was still in bed but the the whole bed had moved. She just slept right through it."

The man's Isuzu Bighorn smashed through her picket fence before coming to a sudden halt embedded in the corner of the house.

Ms Abbott said she ran outside to find the Bighorn wedged into the side of her house and a bewildered driver. "I ran out here and he's going 'did you see that? what happened?'. My sister (Lynda Johnston) ran over to him and started yelling 'my sister's baby was in that room'."

Senior Sergeant Jeff Penno of Hamilton police said the driver's breath alcohol level was 960mcg. The legal limit is 400mcg.

Skidmarks from the Bighorn stretched for about 50 metres from the house. It was hit with such force a corner pile of the house was taken out and power was temporarily cut to parts of Nawton and Livingstone.

When the Waikato Times visited this morning, bits of the picket fence were still spread all over the front yard along with debris from the vehicle. A makeshift pile was made by Pukete firefighters with the family warned to stay away from the damaged corner.

But the damage wasn't only limited to outside. In Ms Abbott's lounge family photos and her deceased mother's antique clock lay broken in front of the mantel on which they once stood.

Ms Abbott said the driver could thank the bullbars on his Bighorn for escaping injury. "His bullbars saved him. His whole front of his car was all pushed in.

"You could see that he was speeding because of the impact and how much it's been pushed up."

Ms Abbott, who is in the middle of a separation, hoped her partner had been up to date with the insurance payments.

- © Fairfax NZ News