'My son had not been drinking,' says mother of teenage driver killed with two friends in New Year bendy bus crash

12 April 2012

An 18-year-old driver killed with two teenage passengers when his car veered into the path of a bendy bus had not been drinking to celebrate the New Year, his mother said today.

Joe Wallis died alongside Amy Curran, 16, and Georgina Fox, 15. Another passenger, Matthew Faith, 17, needed 19 stitches to his head, while an unnamed 17-year-old girl was in hospital with multiple fractures after the pair were cut free.

Today Joe's mother Ann said he been in a Greenwich pub with friends, "but came home to see in 2008 with us before he went back". She added: "He wasn't drinking at all because he was driving."

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Victims: Amy Curran, left, Joe Wallis and Amy's classmate Georgina Fox, right

Mrs Wallis, 44, and her husband Stephen, 47, toasted the New Year with Joe, his sisters Katie, 17, Abbie, 16, and brother Michael, 25, at their home in Shooters Hill.

"At least we were all together, happy as a family, just before Joe died," she said.

Friends who were with Joe in St Christopher's Inn in Greenwich when he went back after New Year confirmed he stuck to soft drinks.

His girlfriend Danielle Clarke, 16, said: "Joe only passed his test a month ago, but he was a good driver. He refused to speed or do anything risky."

The dead girls were in the same class at St Thomas More school in Eltham. Amy's father Tom, 49, said: "I don't know how we're going to live with this."

Georgina's father Bill, 42, said: "We would do anything to have her back. Georgie was like any other teenage girl in having lots of dreams. Now they will never happen."

Three teenagers returning home from a New Year's Eve party were killed yesterday when their car collided head on with a bus.

Two other teenagers also in the car, Matthew Faith, 17, needed 19 stitches to his head, while an unnamed 17-year-old girl had multiple fractures.

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Friends arrive to leave flowers and tributes to the teenagers

The driver of the 60 foot long articulated "bendy bus", who was unhurt, told shocked residents who rushed to the horrific scene that the car had suddenly veered into his path.

The impact was so massive the whole bus seemed to have been shunted backwards.

A fire crew had to cut the dead and survivors from the twisted wreckage of the victims' small red Peugeot.

The road, in Charlton, South East London, where the accident occurred, has a 30 mph speed limit but is notorious for speeding.

It was closed for several hours while the debris was removed.

Last night Amy Curran's father Tom, speaking at the family's semi-detatched home in Sidcup, Kent, said the last time he had seen his daughter was before she went out to celebrate New Year's Eve.

"A group of them about four or five of them went out for a meal and then she went back to a friend's house," he said.

"My wife Linda spoke to her at about 1.30am to wish her a Happy New Year. She said she was having a really good time.

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"The next thing I knew was when the police told me she was dead.

"I'm in a state of shock. The family is devastated. It is unbelievable. I just don't know how we're going to cope with this."

Mr Curran said that he had to break the tragic news to his son Nick, 21, who was on a skiing holiday in Andorra. He was flying back last night.

"I don't know how we're going to live with this," he said. "We always pick her up and drop her everywhere she wants to go.

"We warned her to be careful and safe - but you can only do so much."

Mr Curran, 49, a service supervisor at a lift company, said his daughter had wanted to be a legal secretary and was going to go to a local college to study after finishing school this year.

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Horrific: The scene of the crash where three people died today

He added: "She was a beautiful bubbly outwardly going girl who was very confident and had lots of friends."

Amy and Georgina were in the same class at the small Roman Catholic school, Saint Thomas More, in Eltham, South East London. Georgina's father Bill, 42, a taxi driver, said: "Georgie was full of spirit - a real party girl and we loved her.

"She had lots of friends and her life was built around them. I'm in bits. The family is devastated. But there is nothing we can do."

Her mother, Jo, 43, a civilian Met police employee said: "Georgie was a beautiful daughter. She would light up a room with her smile."

Georgina had two sisters, Kelly, 20, and Jenny, 12. Her family live in Eltham.

His girlfriend of two months Danielle Clarke, 16, said: "He always made everyone put their belts on and he refused to speed or do anything risky."

Tributes for football fan Joe were placed on a memorial site created on the networking website MySpace.

One said: "He was a sweetboi from south east london that will alwatz av jokes and best to fight wiv alwayz up and coming funni person.he will alwayz be missed by every1 family,friends and other 'REST IN PEACE JOE ALAN WALLIS 23/02/89 - 01/01/08'"

His girlfriend, Danielle Leah Clarke, wrote: "you mean the absolute world to me darling.

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Joe Wallis drove the car which crashed into the bus killing him and two of his friends

"forverar you will be in my heart.. your irreplacable no 1 will evar take your place in my heart koz you own a big part of it.. the memories will always be held close with me.

"Just cant belived it apernd 2 you just dont seem rite you didnt dzerv it but babe your in a safe place now."

Another friend wrote "God takes the best of em".

The accident occurred on a busy road used as a short cut towards the Blackwall Tunnel under the Thames, which is close to Charlton Athletic's football ground.

Residents of the £500,000 semis lining the road were woken by a huge bang and walked out to hear a girl screaming from the twisted wreckage of the teenagers' Peugot 106.

The bus, a number 453, was out of service at the time so had no passengers.

Local resident Des Avery, 73, a retired council worker, said he was woken by a sound he thought was a large firework.

He said the bus driver, a middle-aged man who was unhurt, told him how car suddenly swerved across the road into his path.

The driver told him: "The car was coming along there and suddenly veered straight in to the bus."

Neighbours tried desperately to free the survivors before the emergency services arrived, Mr Avery said.

He said the speed of the Peugeot pushed the bus back around 4ft on impact.

He said: "There was a really loud bang at about 6.05 this morning. I said to the wife: 'That sounded more like a very big firework'.

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Joe Wallis pictured with a friend: Tributes have been made to the teenager on his MySpace page online

"I went to the front bedroom and I couldn't believe what I saw.

"The red car was up on the pavement. The front was staved right in. The bus was in the right position on the road.

"It was definitely a head-on crash. The impact must have been tremendous. It pushed that bendy bus backwards 3.5ft to 4ft."

He went on: "A couple of people tried to open the car but they couldn't open the boot. There was steam coming out from the car. It was very mangled up.

"The woman who was screaming was in the front passenger seat, she was facing backwards, with her back towards the windscreen. She had been turned right round.

"The driver, he looked as though he was buried right under the driver's seat.

"I don't know if he had fallen asleep at the wheel or been at a party but it's a bloody awful thing to happen on New Year's Day."

Football fans travelling to Charlton Athletic's Coca-Cola Championship match with Colchester walked past the crash site on their way to the game.

The girl who survived the crash was airlifted by helicopter to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel with multiple injuries, while the male survivor was taken to a local hospital.

Residents said there was a serious problem with cars being driven at high speed down the long straight road, but complained the council had ignored their pleas for speed cameras.

Flowers left by grieving relatives from the last serious crash on the road were still there yesterday as new flowers begin building up from friends of the teenagers killed in the latest horror.

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Flower tributes were laid at the scene of the crash which killed three teenagers in London

Last year, a four-year-old boy died when he was flung from his mother's car as another vehicle crashed into them while overtaking.

And a 12-year-old girl walking her dog was also killed when one of the cars mounted the pavement.

Builder Eddie McCann, 38, who lives nearby, said: "We've been asking for speed cameras for a long time, but the council won't listen."

Asked how quickly people drove down the road he said: "As fast as they can."

The Metropolitan police last night confirmed that the male driver of the car was one of the three to have died.

"The 18-year-old driver, along with two female passengers involved in the collision, unfortunately died," a spokesman said.

"The two other passengers are still in hospital. A 17-year-old female has multiple fractures, which are not life threatening, and a 17-year-old male who was also in the car has minor injuries."

Post mortems are due to be carried out on Thursday.

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