Girl has second leg amputated

A NINE-YEAR-OLD girl was seriously ill in hospital last night as her remaining leg was amputated after a car crash which killed her two friends on Sunday, writes David Connett.

Doctors said that Leigh-Ann Johns, of South Bank, Middlesbrough, was in a critical condition in an intensive-care unit at Middlesbrough General Hospital, Cleveland. Her left leg was amputated shortly after the crash.

Her two friends, the sisters Maria Reed, seven, and Rachel, five, were killed when all three children were crushed against a wall by a car. Floral tributes, toys and messages of grief were left at the accident spot yesterday.

A hospital spokesman said that Leigh-Ann had also suffered serious internal injuries and multiple fractures and was breathing with the aid of a ventilator. Police were waiting last night to interview the 19-year-old driver of the Ford Escort XR3, who is in the same hospital with arm and wrist fractures. A spokesman said that he had been 'arrested on suspicion of manslaughter'.

Road policy changes, page 21