Last updated at 11:13 26 February 2008

A light aircraft that crash-landed in a pensioner's back garden was carrying a prisoner on day release, it emerged today.

The convict was a passenger in the Cessna 172 when the aircraft crashed in trees in the back garden of Eileen and Alfred Watling's garden in Folkestone, Kent.

The elderly couple watched in amazement as the prisoner and the pilot emerged from the wreckage and dropped to the ground, shortly after taking off from Rochester Airport in Kent.

The convict, who has not been named, was serving his sentence for importing drugs at Blantyre House Prison, Goudhurst, near Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

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Stunned: Pensioner Eileen Watling and her new garden ornament in Folkestone, Kent

He had been let out of the category C prison on day release. The 12-hour formal leave of absence is granted to allow inmates to maintain ties with their families.

The pilot, also unnamed, was forced to ground the plane at approximately 3.15pm but both he and his passenger escaped with only minor injuries.

It is not yet known what caused the crash but the Air Accidents Investigation Branch were last night investigating the possible causes.

Both men were taken to William Harvey Hospital after the incident and treated for minor injuries.

The convicted man was then taken to Maidstone Prison in Kent.

The incident comes less than a month after Blantyres deputy governor Kim Coulstock was suspended for alleged irregularities concerning prisoner movements. Internal investigations are continuing.

Mrs Watling, 71, who lives at the house with her 83-year-old husband, said: "It was so sudden, we'd just started watching a film when there was an almighty crash. We thought the house had collapsed.

"I looked out of the window and saw the conifers had come down and there were no electricity lines. Then I saw the plane.

"When the pilot came out he was covered in blood, then the passenger came down out of the trees. I managed to get them into the conservatory and got a towel to stop the bleeding from the pilot's head.

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What a sight: The wrecked plane, as seen from a neighbour's garden

"He said 'I'm so sorry to do this to you' and I said, 'not to worry your health is more important'.

"We realise how lucky we've been. The plane was 10ft from our neighbour's house. If it had hit them first, it could have exploded. Somebody was looking out for us."

A spokesman for Kent Police said: "We don't know what caused the crash but they managed to get the aircraft down without injuring themselves or anyone else.

"Fortunately it is a very rural area and I understand the garden in question was quite large.

"The pilot was from Maidstone and his passenger from Cranbrook."

Emergency services went to the scene at the property off Stone Street, in Farthing Common, near Folkestone, Kent.