Leeds nostalgia: Baby in pram had amazing escape after being crushed by runaway car

A four-month old baby had an amazing escape when the pram in which he was lying was crushed against a wall by a driverless car.

Little Jason Marcus Glew, four months, was dubbed ‘the luckiest baby alive’, following the incident on Primrose Hill, Batley.

The story appeared in the Yorkshire Evening Post in January 1972.

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He was the son of David and Diane Glew, 20, and was outside a shop on Commercial Street when the incident occurred. Jason’s grandfather, Joseph Haywood, 58, a carding engineer, recounted the series of events: “Apparently, a car ran away without a driver and it rammed the shop front, crushing the pram against the wall.”

Diane, who was being served inside the shop, screamed: “My baby! Get my baby!”

Shop owner Margaret Fox, 29, said: “How the child came out of that pram alive I shall never know. The pram was absolutely squashed.”

After the incident, Jason was taken to Batley General Infirmary, which used to be on Carlinghow Hill, and was later discharged, suffering only shock. Batley Police said the runaway car was owned by Jack Broadbent, a fish n chip shop owner from Cross Bank, Batley.