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| Family death crash driver jailed | Family death crash driver jailed |
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| A van driver has been jailed for seven years after killing a Tyneside family of four in a crash in North Yorkshire. | A van driver has been jailed for seven years after killing a Tyneside family of four in a crash in North Yorkshire. |
| Scott Easton, 23, of Stockton, was jailed at Teesside Crown Court on Friday after earlier admitting causing death by dangerous driving. | Scott Easton, 23, of Stockton, was jailed at Teesside Crown Court on Friday after earlier admitting causing death by dangerous driving. |
| The court heard he had been to a party the night before the A1 crash, had been drinking and had very little sleep. | |
| Paula Gilbert, 29, Neil Jex, 37, and sons Tristan, three, and Kaiden, seven months, all died in the smash. | |
| The only survivor was Macauley Gilbert, eight, from South Tyneside. | The only survivor was Macauley Gilbert, eight, from South Tyneside. |
| Easton was also told he would be banned from driving for seven years following his release from prison. | |
| The family had been on their way to see relatives | |
| The court heard how the delivery driver had been to a party the night before the crash, had been drinking and had very little sleep. | |
| Teesside Crown Court heard the crash was caused by a combination of the alcohol and lack of sleep. | |
| The dead family's Citroen Saxo was clipped by Easton's Ford Transit van, forcing it to career off the road and into trees on a stretch of the A1 trunk road between the junctions for Catterick and Leeming. | |
| The driver's barrister, Tim Roberts, QC, said his client had accepted his responsibility for what had happened. | |
| Mr Roberts said: "He should not have got behind the wheel of his van that day. | |
| "He should have had the maturity and good sense to walk away from work and acknowledge that he wa not fit to drive." |