AN 18-MONTH-OLD baby needed cosmetic surgery after his auntie crashed in to an oncoming car after claiming she had been distracted by a bee.

Rebecca Wood, 24, was driving her Volkswagen Golf in Broadfield, Oswaldtwistle, when she became distracted, swerved across the carriageway and hit a Volvo travelling in the opposite direction.

Wood, who admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving, suffered serious injuries in the crash which happened around 5.40pm on June 17, 2014, Burnley Crown Court heard.

But her 18-month nephew Curtis was flung from an insecurely fastened car seat and suffered a deep cut to his forehead which required surgery. He was airlifted to Manchester Children’s Hospital following the crash, but is said to have made a good recovery.

Wood, of Corrie Crescent, Kearsley, was in hospital for a significant amount of time after the crash and walked in to the dock on crutches.

The driver of the Volvo was not seriously injured but badly shaken, the court was told.

Both cars suffered severe front end damage, but investigators found there was nothing mechanically wrong with Wood’s vehicle that would have caused the crash.

Prosecuting, Bob Elias said Wood had veered on to the wrong side of the road as though she was going around a bend and there was nothing the driver of the Volvo could do to avoid the crash.

Wood is said to have a fear of insects and claimed she was distracted by a bee moments before the crash, but Mr Ellis said: “The prosecution’s view is we neither accept or reject what she says because we have had no time to properly look in to it. What we do have is an unacceptable piece of bad driving where the explanation for it arrives very late.”

Defending, Laura Nash said her client deeply regretted the crash and had been left traumatised. She added that Wood, who is taking an NVQ in IT with the aim of becoming a trained secretary, had a self-imposed driving ban.

Miss Nash said: “She a young woman whose life has been completely changed.”

The court heard that Curtis’s mum Leanne had no ill-feeling’s towards her sister and the family had been brought closer together in the aftermath of the crash.

Recorder Simon Medland said: “You are a young woman with underlying medical conditions which you have done your very best to get round and provide yourself with a good future. It’s obvious to me that your remorse is palpable. A sentence of imprisonment must follow because of the consequences of the crash. However I am prepared to suspend it.”

Wood was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, banned from driving for two years and has to take an extended driving test.