Marie and Brent. R.I.P.

This is what I returned home to see as the two front pages of our local newspaper during the week that I was away.

Two die in car crash
Tributes have been paid to two West Norfolk teenagers after they were tragically killed in a head-on collision in Lynn on Sunday evening.
Brent Collison (18), from Lynn and passenger Marie Smith (18), from West Winch, suffered fatal injuries when Brent’s black Citroen Saxo was in collision with a silver Mercedes C200.

The accident happened at around 6.45pm on the A149 at Bawsey, 700 metres south of the roundabout that joins the B1145.

The Citroen was travelling towards the hospital roundabout when it collided with the Mercedes heading in the opposite direction. Marie was thrown from the car by the force of the impact.

Despite ambulances being called both young people were declared dead at the scene of the accident.

Brent’s aunt Mrs Marie Bailey said her nephew was a "lovely" boy who had lots of friends and was part of a close family.

She said the former Park High School pupil had entered the Army for a year and served in the Burma regiment before he came out in January and had since been working in the construction industry on the new Cambridge hospital.

A keen boxer since his youth, she said Brent had enjoyed keeping fit and recently took part in a fundraising Full Monty evening in aid of Tish East Treatment Fund.

"It’s a tragic accident. It was his first car. I can praise him up to the elbows. He’ll be missed.

"He was a very likeable young lad."

Mel Green, a coach at North Lynn’s Gold Star boxing club, knew Brent from the boxing club, and said Marie was a family friend.

Marie was a best friend of his daughter Marie Rose at Lynn’s King Edward VII School.

They shared birthday parties together as his daughter was two days younger than Marie, and they had sleepovers at his house.

"She was such a livewire, a scatterhead, but in a nice way. She was just an absolutely lovely kid," he said.

Mr Green said Brent joined the club five years ago and had "fantastic potential" as a boxer. He trained twice a week, and had previously represented the Eastern counties.

"He was a great boy, he kept himself to himself, but was really dedicated, he would have had a good future."

"I just can’t believe this has happened, I’ve felt heartbroken all day. I keep thinking what the parents must be going through."

Tributes were also paid to Marie from Steve Young, manager at Lynn’s Debenhams, where Marie had worked for just under a year in the menswear department.

"She was a well-liked and valued member of staff, and we are all deeply saddened. Our thoughts are with the parents at this time."

Two fire crews from Lynn used hydraulic rescue equipment to release people trapped in the vehicles and the 60-year-old man driving the Mercedes was taken to Lynn’s nearby Queen Elizabeth Hospital with minor leg injuries.

The road was closed while investigations into the crash were started.

Investigating officers Sergeant Peter Howlett and PC Paul White are asking for any witnesses to the accident or anyone who saw the manner of the driving of either car before the collision to contact them through Western Area Road Policing unit on 0845 456 4567.
25 October 2005

 
Family mourns ‘a little angel’
The family of a "little angel" whose life was tragically cut short by a car accident have spoken of the beautiful teen-ager who lit up their lives.

Marie Smith (18) of Leete Way, West Winch, and Brent Collison (18), of North Lynn, were both killed in a collision on the A149 at Bawsey on Sunday evening.

And Marie’s grieving relatives told the Lynn News how she loved reading, and wrote poems, enjoyed all kinds of music and was devoted to her family.

Her dad, Robert Smith, said: "She was a little angel. She was always smiling, and could never say anything bad about anybody. She said she would be back at 9pm. Within ten minutes of being in the car, it was the end of the story, and we are trying to come to terms with that. Sunday’s outing was the first time the two had been out alone."

Lynette Wilmerson, Marie’s mum, said her daughter was her best friend, and she was extra special because they shared the same birthday – May 18.

Marie’s aunt, Mrs Jackie Simpson, said: "When she walked into a room, it was just aglow.

"She touched everybody’s hearts, and was the most special person you could ever come across. She was like a daughter to me, too."

Mr Smith said Marie was very intelligent and loved the Harry Potter books and the author Philip Pullman.

He said she was honest, kept no secrets from her parents and always told them where she was. And she was like a "second mum" to her brother, Simon (15) and half-brother Frank (two-and-a-half) – the son of her mum and her stepdad, Mr Vincent Wilmerson.

"She was so natural. She was very attractive, but that was effortless," Mr Smith added.

Her boyfriend of three years, Mr Lee Williamson (20), of Castle Rising Road, South Wootton, said: "She always had a brilliant eye and talent for fashion. I always thought she could make a great career from that."

The creative teenager, who worked as a sales assistant at Debenhams in Lynn, also enjoyed drawing.

She drew her father a picture of an angel to keep in his wallet.

Mr Smith said the family hoped to arrange for the A149 to be closed for a few minutes for friends and relatives to leave flowers.
28 October 2005