Raceway wheel terror victim 'injured for life'

The terrifing moment a lorry-sized wheel smashed into a Staffordshire mother-of-four at a raceway causing injuries from which she may never fully recover was revealed as the former track boss admitted health and safety breaches.

The wheel hit Jackie Edwards at Hednesford Raceway breaking her pelvis. Mrs Edwards' husband David desperately tried to shield her from the 14-stone missile as it flew into the spectators' stand but, he said in a statement, the wheel was too large and too fast for him to stop.

As a result of her injuries, Mrs Edwards, of Chadsmoor is said to have lasting psychological damage and still walks with a stick more than two years after the accident in April 2006.

The details emerged during a hearing at Stafford Magistrates Court yesterday where the former owner of Hednesford Raceway, Philip Bond, had earlier admitted three health and safety breaches over the incident.

Bond, aged 65, of Cruckton, Shrewsbury, pleaded guilty to the charges as the former managing director of Incarace Ltd, which ran the famous oval raceway until it was bought out in February this year.

He was due to be sentenced later today.

The court heard how the wheel bounced across the track and into the spectator stand after it was hit by a banger racer.

The driver of the car was attempting a jump for a £100 prize when he lost control of his vehicle and ploughed into a wall of tyres which, ironically, had been placed there for safety reasons.

Video footage of the incident was played in court and screams could be heard from the crowd as the wheel careered towards them.

Frantic cries and shouts were audible in the aftermath of the drama as medics rushed to help Mrs Edwards and another woman, Debbie Patrick, who was also injured.

Cannock Chase District Council solicitor Barry Berlin, prosecuting, said using tyres to cushion racing cars was common practice in motor sport.

However, he said Bond had been taken to court because the tyre which hit Mrs Edwards was complete with its heavy metal hub and was not tied down.

More crucially, it was fully inflated, which caused it to bounce over a safety net.

Under questioning, Bond said: "I was utilising waste and putting it to good use, as I thought."