Inquest opens into death of family killed in M6 crash
AN inquest was opening today into the deaths of a family of six tragically killed in a motorway horror crash while visiting relatives in Birmingham.
Chef David Statham, 38, his wife Michelle, 33, and their four children, Reece, 13, Jay, nine, Mason, 20 months, and 10-week-old baby daughter Ellouise, were killed on the M6 while returning to their home in Llandudno, north Wales.
The couple, who had been together for 19 years, died at the scene with their children when their silver people carrier was struck in a five-vehicle pile-up between junctions 16 and 17 on the northbound carriageway near Sandbach, Cheshire, on the night of October 20.
The crash happened as queues built up after an earlier fatal crash. The Stathams’ Toyota car burst into flames, with the vehicle having to be identified by its chassis number.
Childhood sweethearts David and Michelle, who lived in Erdington until five years ago, had been in Birmingham to take their children to visit their grandparents.
The inquest was opening this afternoon at Warrington Town Hall and was expected to be adjourned.
Portuguese HGV driver Paulo Jorge Nogueira de Silva, 46, has been charged with six counts of causing death by dangerous driving.
He has been remanded to appear at Chester Crown Court on November 4.
That is the same day that the Statham family funeral will take place in Llandudno at their Catholic church of Our Lady Star of the Sea.
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