A Portuguese lorry driver who killed a family of six on the M6 last October has been jailed for three years.

Paulo Jorge Nogueira da Silva, 46, was convicted of six counts of causing death by careless driving over the collision which killed Michelle and David Statham and their four children in a five-vehicle pile-up between junctions 16 and 17.

The sentencing judge at Chester crown court sentenced Da Silva to six three-year terms to run concurrently after jurors rejected the more serious charge of causing death by dangerous driving.

Chef Mr Statham, 38, his 33-year-old wife and their children Reece, 13, Jay, nine, Mason, 20 months, and Ellouise, ten weeks, were on their way home to Llandudno after visiting relatives in Birmingham at the time of the crash.

They died when Da Silva's lorry crushed them between another lorry caught in a long tailback on the M6, with their car subsequently catching fire.

Cheshire's chief crown prosecutor Ian Rushton commented: "Da Silva admitted in court that he had seen the electronic signs warning that the M6 was closed ahead and that queues were likely. He said that he reduced his speed but could not explain how the collision happened.

"The prosecution said that it was clear that for a period of around a minute, Paulo da Silva was not paying proper attention to the road and fatally hit the Stathams' van with his 40-tonne lorry."

Speaking outside court, Mrs Statham's father Peter Hagans – who his daughter and son-in-law had visited in Birmingham to introduce Ellouise to his grandparents – said the family was "devastated" by their loss and condemned the sentence given to Da Silva.

"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," he said.

"In our opinion what we sat through this week was no more than a circus, the only difference being the man in charge of a circus wears a top hat not a wig."


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