Toddler ‘lucky to survive’ as joyriders crash into family

Glenn Mighton was taking his family to visit his sick grandmother when the speeding car struck his Ford Focus, sending his head smashing through the driver’s window.

The 40-year-old’s daughter Isla was sitting in a car seat in the rear of the vehicle and was left screaming in terror following the impact.

Mr Mighton, whose partner Sharon Brown, 41, was also in the back seat, said the car’s central pillar had absorbed the brunt of the impact and possibly prevented a fatality.

Police are now hunting two men who fled from the stolen car following the crash in Cuiken Avenue in Penicuik, Midlothian. The silver Vauxhall Astra was stolen from outside an address in nearby Carlops Avenue between noon and 12.30pm on Saturday after the key was left in the ignition.

Mr Mighton, who lives in Penicuik, said: “We were on the way to visit my gran who’s in hospital in Hawick.

“I was driving at about 20mph to 25mph down Cuiken Avenue and on to Carlops Avenue where the road splits in two. I was just passing the junction when this car rammed into us on the right side of my car.

“It struck us head-on between the front wheel arch and the central column. The impact ripped the skin of the rear door right off and my head went through the driver’s side window.

“My daughter was in her car seat behind me, with my partner sitting next to her. My first thought was to get to her but the driver’s door wouldn’t open so I climbed out the passenger side. My daughter was crying and screaming. I saw the two guys running away. They didn’t stop to see what happened.”