Police today named the driver as John Gordon (31), of Long Pastures, Werrington, Peterborough. He died hours after his black Volvo cartwheeled more than 100ft through the air before bursting backwards into Laura Stevens' (19) first-floor flat on Saturday, smashing through her window and sending bricks flying.

It is believed a neighbour and a trained paramedic who happened to be passing on Saturday morning, dashed to help and managed to pull a nine-year-old boy, believed to be Mr Gordon's son, from the mangled wreckage inside the lounge.

Read related: Difficult job to remove vehicle.
Neighbours stunned by accident.
Read our original story from the weekend.
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The car became embedded about 15ft up, with just the twisted bonnet protruding from a huge hole in the wall where Miss Stevens' window had been, in the maisonette in Danish Court, Werrington.

Miraculously, the youngster in the car only sustained what have been described as minor injuries, while Morrison's supermarket worker Miss Stevens, who had left the room to empty her washing machine just seconds earlier, was lucky to escape with her life.

Firefighters worked from inside the flat for about 30 minutes to cut free Mr Gordon, who had been heading along the A15 Werrington parkway towards the city centre when the crash happened at about 9.10am. He was taken to a specialist unit at Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge, but died later that day.

It is believed he hit the roundabout at its junction with David's Lane and Papyrus Road at speed, flew over it, clipping a tree, bounced, and then was catapulted about 15ft into the air into the wall of Miss Stevens's flat, which backs on to the dual carriageway.

Miss Stevens' mother Claire Francis (38) said this morning: "I think Laura is suffering from delayed shock. She was unable to sleep on Saturday night as she just kept reliving it.

"She is just so lucky to be alive. Seconds earlier or later and she would not have made it either.

"Obviously she feels terrible that the gentleman died and even though she may be able to go back there, I don't think she can for psychological reasons."

She said her daughter had only moved into the rented flat seven weeks previously and had scrimped to buy her furniture.

Most of it was destroyed by the impact and, as she has no insurance, she is unable to replace it.

She is currently staying at her mother's home in Peterborough. Another neighbour also had to be evacuated while the damage to the building is evaluated because it was rocked by the impact.

Station manager at the city's Dogsthorpe fire station Lynn Betteridge said the car had somehow managed to flip round because it was the back end of the vehicle which went into the wall.

He added: "We have had to deal with vehicles in buildings before, but never one which went into the first-floor of a property."

The A15 from Glinton to the city centre was closed for eight hours while the wreckage was cleared.


8.15AM: Police have this morning named the 31-year-old man who died when his car spectacularly left the road and crashed through the window of a first floor flat.

He was John Gordon, of Long Pasture, Werrington, who died as a result of his injuries in the crash on Saturday morning at the A15 roundabout junction with David's Lane.

A nine-year-old boy suffered minor injuries.