Family's fury as Portuguese lorry driver who wiped out couple and four children is jailed... but he will be free in 14 months

By Jaya Narain for MailOnline
Updated: 21:50 EST, 16 February 2009

The justice system has been condemned as a circus after relatives of a family killed in a road crash by a foreign lorry driver were told he will be free in a year.

David Statham, 38, his wife Michelle, 33, their three sons, Reece, 13, Jay, nine, Mason, 20 months and ten-week-old baby daughter Ellouise died when the HGV smashed into the back of their car on the M6.

Portuguese-born Paulo da Silva, 46, was arrested at the scene and charged with six counts of causing death by dangerous driving. The judge called the crash 'one of the most serious offences of its kind'.

But da Silva was convicted of the lesser charge of causing death by careless driving and sentenced to just three years  -  although the maximum term is five years.

As he has spent time on remand and must serve only half his sentence under parole laws, da Silva will walk free in a year.

Relatives of the victims and road safety campaigners condemned the sentence.

Mrs Statham's father Peter Hagans, 56, said: 'From the night of the accident when Mr da Silva butchered our family it was not possible for us to get justice in a British court. In our opinion what we sat through this week was no more than a circus.'

Road safety charity Brake said: 'For the judge to say that this was one of the most serious offences of its kind begs the question of why the sentence given was not nearer the maximum, especially when multiple deaths have occurred, which must, at the very least, act as an aggravating factor when taking sentences into account.'

Michelle Owen, of Speed Kills, said: 'This is a total disgrace. The family have every right to be angry.

Wiped out: Michelle Statham with her children Ellouise, Mason and Jay

'What is the point of changing the law if you fail to use it as a deterrent. Six people were killed in this horror show so how many people need to be killed in a crash for the maximum sentence to be given?'

The collision happened in Cheshire, last October, as Mr Statham, a chef, his wife and their children, returned home to North Wales after spending the weekend with family in the Midlands.

Their Toyota Previa was hit by the lorry as it slowed to a stop in a traffic jam. The impact forced their car into the back of another lorry and the family died before emergency services could reach them.

Chester Crown Court heard that da Silva may have taken his eye off the road to study a satellite navigation system on his laptop computer.

Andrew Thomas QC, prosecuting, said: 'Officers who searched the interior of his cab found a laptop computer fitted with a GPS (Global Positioning System) on the console alongside his seat, with the screen turned to face the driver.

Wiped out: David Statham and his wife Michelle, top left, were killed instantly along with their four children Jay, top right, Mason, bottom left, Reece and Ellouise, bottom right

'Only the defendant knows the truth about why he did not see a queue of traffic which would have been visible to him for a about a mile or so before point of collision. The use of the laptop to work out a new route would explain it.'  

Oliver Jarvis, defending, had claimed Mrs Statham, a financial adviser, had already crashed into the rear of a lorry before da Silva hit their car.

But the possibility that the family had been killed by an earlier collision was ruled out by a pathologist, who said the fatal injuries were consistent with an impact from the rear.

Mr Justice Irwin told da Silva: 'No one can put what has happened right. The overwhelming aggravating feature in this case is the number of those killed.

'You were an experienced professional lorry driver with a 40-ton lorry. This is a combination always to be regarded as a potentially lethal weapon.

Grief: Carole and Peter Hagans, front, parents of Michelle Statham and other members of their family arrive at the trial at Chester Crown Court

'You ignored and failed to take account of a whole series of signs. You simply did not watch for them over a long stretch of road with good visibility.

'Of course you intended harm to no one, but clearly this was a bad failing on your part, sustained and obviously risky.

'In my view the facts of the driving in this case, the level of warning, size and weight of your lorry and your sustained and gross failure to look out carry this case to the boundary of causing death by dangerous driving.

'I bear in mind the maximum sentence is five years. Although six deaths, this was one episode and the prison sentences must be concurrent. This was one of the most serious offences of its kind.'

Da Silva made no reaction as the verdicts were delivered but his son, sitting in the public gallery, burst into tears.

Angela Statham, the mother of David Statham, cries during a press conference. Peter Hagans, the father of Michelle Statham

The case was the first big test of new charges aimed at handing down tougher sentences to drivers whose careless driving kills other road users.

Under old laws, judges were restricted to handing down fines of up to £2,500 for careless driving. The new charge of causing death by careless driving gives them the power to jail offenders for up to five years.

The court case was a 'circus', Mr Hagans said: 'The only difference being, the man in charge of a circus wears a top hat, not a wig.

'The many tributes to Michelle, Dave and the children have made us realise just how much this tragedy has affected people from all over the country.'

Alan Moult, Mr Statham's uncle, said: 'Although we are disappointed with the verdict given we leave this court with our heads held high. Although we will never stop grieving we can now begin to live again.'

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Mr and Mrs Statham met in their home town of Sutton Coldfield, in the West Midlands, and the pair moved to Llandudno where Mr Statham found work as a chef in a private boys' school while his wife worked as a financial adviser.

They were said to be 'doting parents' who spent every spare minute entertaining their four children.

Friends and neighbours described the three boys as polite and well brought up.

Da Silva, who has been driving lorries for 21 years, was sentenced to three years in prison on each count, to run concurrently, and will serve a year and 27 days in jail.

He was also disqualified from driving for three years and is likely to be deported when he is released.'