Death Crash Father Jailed

A man has been jailed for two years for causing the death of four of his children by dangerous driving.

Father-of-seven Nigel Gresham, 37, was found guilty of four counts of causing death by dangerous driving after a trial at Lincoln Crown Court last month.

He had crashed his "dangerously" modified Land Rover into the River Witham in Lincolnshire, in September 2007.

Gresham's children Willow, two, Angel, four, Thor, and six-year-old Keavy, who were all passengers in the vehicle, died in the crash at Tattershall Bridge.

The 37-year-old, formerly of Chapel Hill, Lincs, was told by Judge Michael Heath, during sentencing: "I have to express the sad and harsh reality of your position in plain terms.

"You were found guilty by the jury of four counts of causing death by dangerous driving. Those who died were the youngest of your seven children."

He continued: "What happened was horrendous. The simple fact is that your Land Rover should not have been on the road. It was to coin a phrase, an accident waiting to happen."

Judge Heath added that the Land Rover was in appalling condition, and said the collision investigators had never seen such a badly maintained vehicle.

Gresham, who denied all charges, was told he would serve at least half of his two-year sentence, and he would be disqualified from driving for five years.

(JM/BMcC)