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| Family death crash father guilty | Family death crash father guilty |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| A father has been found guilty of causing the deaths of four of his children by dangerous driving. | A father has been found guilty of causing the deaths of four of his children by dangerous driving. |
| Nigel Gresham, 37, of Chapel Hill, Lincolnshire, was driving his modified Land Rover when it plunged into the River Witham, in September last year. | Nigel Gresham, 37, of Chapel Hill, Lincolnshire, was driving his modified Land Rover when it plunged into the River Witham, in September last year. |
| Willow, two, Angel, four, Thor, six, and Keavy, eight, died in the river. | Willow, two, Angel, four, Thor, six, and Keavy, eight, died in the river. |
| Lincoln Crown Court heard Gresham, who denied the charges, had been driving too fast and the vehicle was not roadworthy. He will be sentenced later. | Lincoln Crown Court heard Gresham, who denied the charges, had been driving too fast and the vehicle was not roadworthy. He will be sentenced later. |
| The court had earlier been told Gresham's Land Rover had several "ill-judged" modifications aimed at improving its off-road performance and that repairs to it were also "incompetent". | The court had earlier been told Gresham's Land Rover had several "ill-judged" modifications aimed at improving its off-road performance and that repairs to it were also "incompetent". |
| The jury was told that moments before the crash, Gresham pulled over to allow another vehicle coming in the opposite direction to pass. | The jury was told that moments before the crash, Gresham pulled over to allow another vehicle coming in the opposite direction to pass. |
| But as it mounted the verge, a bracket close to the rear axle snapped and the Land Rover turned on its side, rolling down the bank and into the water. | But as it mounted the verge, a bracket close to the rear axle snapped and the Land Rover turned on its side, rolling down the bank and into the water. |
| Gresham, his partner Sara Bolland, 31, and their three eldest children survived. | Gresham, his partner Sara Bolland, 31, and their three eldest children survived. |
| Two weeks before the crash, Gresham was forced to stop while driving the vehicle on an off-road course in Manby, Nottinghamshire, because part of its under-carriage broke. | |
| Timothy Spencer QC, for the prosecution, said the deaths were "an avoidable tragedy". | |
| "He must have known, despite what he said to police, that this was a defective vehicle. | |
| "He must have known it was in a dangerous condition and it should not have been on the road in the state it was in," he said. |