Mother scared by spider drives to death on eve of son's wedding

Brenda Sharpe, 67, who had a phobia of the creatures, was travelling from a rehearsal for her son's wedding, which was taking place the following day.

She spotted the spider dangling between the sun visors of her Peugeot 106 and tried to swat it away, but veered on to the wrong side of the road into the path of a 53-seater school bus. She died of multiple injuries.

Aileen Havice, the American mother of her son's bride, was in the passenger seat.

The pair had been driving home from St Peter's Church, Theberton, near Leiston in Suffolk, to pick up a needle after realising a flower girl's dress was too long.

Mrs Havice told an inquest: "We had been driving for about three minutes when we both saw a small spider coming down a web between the two visors.

"It was about the size of a small fingernail. Brenda was calm and not panicking, but she reached out as if to grab the thread.

"We were both concentrating on the spider and there was a huge crash - then nothing. It was only seconds from the time we both saw the spider until the crash.

"I knew Brenda was seriously hurt. I was calling out to her but she didn't reply. It was just a terrible, terrible accident."

Miss Havice, from Pennsylvania, suffered minor injuries in the crash and was released from hospital the same day.

Mrs Sharpe's husband Roy, 68, said he blamed himself for the accident, which happened on September 29 last year. He believes the spider probably got into the car from wood he often transported in the boot.

The couple, of Knodishall, near Leiston, had been married for more than 30 years. Mr Sharpe said both his wife and Miss Havice had a fear of spiders.

He said: "Somehow the spider got on to the windscreen. I used to take wood in the back of the car and I reckon that's how it got there.

"She was a jolly woman who would help anybody - especially if you needed something altered with a needle and cotton."

He insisted that his son Roy, 29, and his fiance Kristen, 25, continue with the ceremony, despite their reservations.

He said: "I said it had to go on. There was no way it couldn't because so much work had gone into it.

Kristen had family over from America and Brenda would have wanted it to go ahead.

"We got through the day. We grinned and beared it and were glad when it was all over."

The 70 guests held a two-minute silence before the ceremony.

Coach driver Fred Keen, who was on his way to pick up pupils, said he was unable to avoid the car.

He added: "It was entirely on my side of the road. There was a huge bang and I was momentarily lifted out of my seat."

Suffolk coroner Dr Peter Dean recorded a verdict of accidental death at the inquest in Lowestoft.

He said: "What we have here is a terrible tragedy on what should have been the build-up to a happy occasion for both families. The circumstances are very sad indeed."