A uni graduate who failed to stop for police before crashing a car into the front of two homes was fleeing a tense situation with her abusive ex-partner, a court heard.

Nicole Mamsonguina Ebuka lost control of her Audi in Tovil, near Maidstone, and smashed into the two properties, causing a substantial amount of damage.

Allana Spencer, who lives in one of the homes in Farleigh Hill, thought a “bomb had gone off” as the vehicle came through the front door at about 7.30pm on January 4.

This week, magistrates were told Mamsonguina Ebuka had been to collect her belongings from her ex, but after a row with him she got in the Audi A6 he had bought for her and drove off.

However, when police spotted her in Coombe Road and did checks on the vehicle, it flagged up as having no insurance, so officers requested it stop.

Richard Lamb, prosecuting, said: "She was asked to stop, but left speeding off and it was significantly wet.

"She went down a hill and her wheel spun on the residual water and crashed into two houses.

“In interview she made full admissions and had significant remorse. She has two previous but dissimilar offences.”

The 23-year-old, who also lives in Maidstone, was charged with failing to stop, driving without due care and attention and driving without insurance.

She admitted all three offences when she appeared in the dock at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court on February 5.

Sara Haroon, defending, said: “She was involved in an abusive relationship for 12 months and that finished at the start of the year.

"On January 4, she had been to the ex-partner’s address to collect her belongings and he refused to give them to her.

"He wanted money - hundreds of pounds - and she didn’t have it, so he said he was going to call the police.

"He had purchased the vehicle and she had given him £350 for the insurance, but because they had problems in December, he failed to pay it and spent the money elsewhere.

"She had assumed he had purchased the insurance. She was upset as she was driving and she did fail to stop.

"She accepts she wasn’t in the right frame of mind, it was a pointless exercise (not stopping), and the car was written off."

Magistrates heard Mamsonguina Ebuka, a University of Kent graduate who had studied film, worked late-night shifts in a warehouse but had lost her job as she could not get there.

“To pay back only about £500 is ridiculous. It is not good enough...”

She was fined £320, given nine points on her licence and was ordered to pay a £128 victim surcharge and £85 costs.

Ms Spencer, who has been forced to live elsewhere since the crash, was not impressed with the sentence.

“To pay back only about £500 is ridiculous," she said. "It is not good enough.

“I can’t imagine how much the insurance company is paying out to fix the house – I’m guessing it is in the thousands.

“I’m surprised she wasn’t done for criminal damage as I still have no front door. I haven’t received an apology from anyone.”

After the crash, the mum and her five-year-old daughter Ava-Mae initially stayed in a hotel for three weeks.

They have now been moved to temporary accommodation five minutes away from her former home.

She has been living there since Friday, January 26 and is expected to stay until April 19. However, it could be extended.

“I don’t sleep very well,” she added. “I have anxiety and I’m constantly overthinking.

“Ava-Mae is still having nightmares. She doesn’t want to go back there as she is worried the whole house will fall down.

“It’s not fun at all. I just want to get my belongings back and move on."