A GRIEVING mother has been arrested and questioned by police on suspicion of causing the death of her teenage daughter in a road crash while allegedly under the influence of alcohol.

A GRIEVING mother has been arrested and questioned by police on suspicion of causing the death of her teenage daughter in a road crash while allegedly under the influence of alcohol.

Julia Kettle, 17, from Lawford, died in her mother's arms at the scene of the accident in Dedham.

Her mother Wendy Jipson, 42, was driving along Long Road East on March 28, when her Ford Escort was involved in a collision with a telegraph pole – killing Julia, who was a passenger in the car.

An Essex Police spokesman said: "A 42-year-old woman from the Colchester area was arrested this weekend in connection with the death of a 17-year-old woman in a road crash earlier this year.

"The Escort driver was arrested on suspicion of causing death by careless driving whilst under the influence of alcohol and has been bailed pending further inquiries until early August."

A few days after the accident, Mrs Jipson described the grief she had felt after the death of her beloved daughter.

She said: "I'm still in denial since the accident – it hasn't sunk in yet what has happened. I still expect her to walk into the room at any second and it's going to take a lot of getting used to. We were very close."

Mrs Jipson, of Colchester Road, Lawford, described Julia, who was partially deaf, as a "happy-go-lucky girl who would help anyone as best she could".

She added: "She was very arty and loved to decorate bedrooms with flowers and stars. She had a real talent for art and it was something she enjoyed."

The former Manningtree High School pupil worked as an office junior for Bairstow Eves estate agents in Colchester, a job she had held for six months.

Julia and her mother had been on their way to Braintree to visit family when the accident happened at 12.05am.

She was certified dead at the scene and a post-mortem examination revealed Julia had died from multiple injuries.