Mum's agony two years on from daughter's fatal crash

The mother of a teenage girl who was killed in a car crash has spoken about the agony she continues to feel more than two years on from her daughter's death.

In the early hours of 3 December 2022, Lucy Billingham, 18, was one of four passengers in a car being driven at 117mph (188km/h) by Jack Cracknell in New Dover Road, Canterbury.

Cracknell lost control of the vehicle, which crashed into a kerb, a roundabout, street furniture and The Old Gate Inn. Lucy died at the scene.

Lucy's mum, Heather Kemsley, said she read about the crash online and said to her own mother: "I wonder how that family is." Ten minutes later, the police arrived at Heather's door.

"I didn't expect it to be my own daughter," she told the BBC.

"We weren't allowed to go and see her in the chapel of rest because they said [we] wouldn't like to see her as she was.

"I couldn't stand. I couldn't eat. I couldn't drink."

Heather described Lucy as bubbly, outgoing and someone who was always laughing and making jokes.

"She never came back, only in a box," said Heather.

"I've got a little plaque and a special place in the garden where I put her flowers every year.

"When I visit Lucy at the grave, I can feel her presence. I can feel her in the home."

Heather says she is supported by family and friends, but she still struggles to face the outside world.

Issuing a warning to others, she said: "Just don't get in the car [if] you don't know the driver."

Cracknell, now 22, of Ospringe in Faversham, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He was jailed for six years on Friday.

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