A NINE-YEAR-OLD schoolgirl was lucky to escape serious injury when a mystery object was thrown or fired at her mother's car while they were driving at 70mph – showering her in glass.
Elise de Boos was being driven to gymnastics practice in Basildon by her mother Sharon on Thursday last week (January 8) at around 4.50pm, when an object smashed a gaping hole in the rear windscreen of their Seat Ibiza.
The 38-year-old of Lister Tye in Chelmsford was driving London-bound on the A127, and had just entered the 70mph zone near the junction with the A176 at Laindon when the incident happened.
The mother of two told the Chronicle: "I was driving in the outside lane when I heard an horrific bang. I knew that I hadn't hit anything or that anything had hit me, as I wasn't jolted.
"I asked my daughter if she was okay and when I looked in the rear-view mirror I realised that I had no rear windscreen. There was a huge hole behind my daughter's head and the glass had shattered.
"We both panicked and were really scared. My daughter started crying and through her tears she was saying, 'get me out of the car; get me out'."
The technical consultant for Capita then pulled onto a slip road in Pound Lane and called the police. Two officers arrived at the scene 15 minutes later but they were unable to identify what had caused the damage.
The object which hit the car bounced off on impact, leaving a hole in the glass just inches behind where the Moulsham primary school student was sitting.
Mrs de Boos added: "We were both really shaken up. My immediate reaction was that something had been thrown, I was expecting to see a brick but there was nothing there.
"Whatever hit my car didn't come through with the glass. Apparently that's to do with the way rear windscreens are designed so I suppose it actually did its job quite well.
"My husband came out that evening to take Elise home and I drove home in the car which was hit. I didn't want to but the police had said it was safe to drive and if I didn't drive it then I was never going to.
"We were just so incredibly lucky that I didn't swerve and cause a major road accident. Neither of us needed to go to hospital."
Police are yet to find out if the object was thrown or fired at the car, but anybody with information or who may have witnessed the incident should contact PC Rob Duffy at Laindon on Essex Police 101.
People can also give information to the charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or at www.crimestoppers-uk.org
