A DEVASTATED family has paid tribute to a schoolgirl fatally injured in a road crash.

Julia Beazley, 14, was a back-seat passenger in a Honda Civic, driven by her 21-year-old sister Vanessa, that was involved in an horrific collision with a Land Rover near Tenterden Golf Club.

Together with a friend, they were returning home to Ruckinge, near Ashford, after swimming at Tenterden Leisure Centre.

All three, and the other driver, were taken to hospital where Julia later died of her injuries.

Her parents, Roy and Maria Beazley, and their son Richard, 23, have spoken of their great sadness.

Julia was a student at Ashford School. Throughout junior school her record was outstanding, winning prizes every year for attainment in exams and in the senior school she had won the English prize for creative writing.

Like her brother and sister, she was a talented, award-winning poet and loved music. Literature and languages were her passion and she was widely read.

Her father Roy said: “It was a joy and privilege to be her father. We had a loving family relationship and she was blossoming in teenage life."

Mrs Beazley said: “We would like to provide a memorial trophy for Ashford School to remember her contribution to school life.”

Julia was also a great lover of animals, caring for her 10-year-old cat, two kittens, tropical fish and her great love, a pony called Flash. Her father said: “She loved them all as much as her academic work."

The funeral service will be held on Wednesday, September 5, in the village church near her home and she will be buried in the churchyard.

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