A baby who was insecurely fastened in a child-seat died after being thrown from a car in an accident.

Four-month-old Kelly Ames was found in the middle of the road after the Ford Granada hit a road-sign and rolled over three times. She died from head injuries.

The car was being driven by her mother Kristin, 18, of Barnfield Close, Caversfield, near Bicester, in the early hours of October 4, last year.

Miss Ames, from America, had just picked up her daughter from a baby-sitter and was travelling to RAF Croughton when the crash happened on the A43 between Baynards Green and Croughton.

She told an inquest in Oxford: "I was driving and the next thing I knew there was an accident. I remember climbing out of a window."

Miss Ames said she reached over to her daughter but she was not there. She said: "She was in the middle of the road behind the car." Lorry driver Tracy Himsworth, from Lincolnshire, told the Oxford inquest he saw a woman carrying a child shouting: "Help my baby."

The child was rushed to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, where she was pronounced dead.

Consultant paediatric pathologist Dr Colene Bowker said the child died from massive head injuries after coming into contact with a hard surface.

Pc David Frew, from the accident investigation unit based at Bicester, told the inquest the rear-facing child-seat was securely fastened to the passenger seat. But there were no stress marks on the buckle which suggested the baby was not properly secured in the child-seat.

He said: "There is no indication that the buckle was engaged at the time of the crash. It may well have not been engaged at all."

Pc Frew said his investigation showed the driver had not fallen asleep before the crash and that the car may have drifted to the grass verge before the driver lost control.

A Ford Sierra car hit the wreckage of the Granada minutes after the accident although it played no part in the initial crash. The driver was not seriously hurt.

Coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Story date: Thursday 11 February

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