Grandfather slams sentence given to lorry driver over M6 crash
The couple, who had been together for 19 years, had moved to Llandudno from Sutton Coldfield.
At about 10.35pm Mrs Statham came behind a large container lorry which was at the back of a traffic queue caused by the closure of the motorway further north.
Seconds later the car was hit from behind by da Silva, driving a DAF articulated lorry taking a consignment of fruit juice from Murcia to a Morrisons' distribution centre in Northwich, Cheshire.
Although he had made deliveries to the UK before it was da Silva's first trip to the Cheshire site.
The Toyota was sandwiched between the two HGVs, the front of the car forced underneath the rear of the lorry ahead of them and the passenger compartment crushed.
The crash caused a massive explosion and the Toyota burst into flames.
Such was the ferocity of the collision the remains of the victims could not immediately be identified.
Da Silva, a lorry driver for 21 years, denied using the sat nav system on a laptop computer as he drove along and told the jury he did not see the vehicles ahead until it was too late.
He made no reaction as the verdicts were delivered but his son, sitting in the public gallery, burst into tears with his head in his hands.
Mrs Statham's parents Carole and Peter Hagans wiped away tears, both of them leaving shortly after the three-year prison sentence was delivered by the judge.
Alan Moult, David Statham's uncle, speaking after the verdict, said: "Although we are disappointed with the verdict given we leave this court with our heads held high.
"We can now start to wrap David, Michelle, Reece, Jay, Mason and Ellouise in our hearts and minds and move forward. Although we will never stop grieving we can now begin to live again."
Mr Moult also spoke of the extended family's other young children Chloe and Sophie, cousins of the Statham's dead children.
He added: "When the pictures of David, Michelle and the children were shown on television Chloe instantly recognised them and went up and kissed the screen. Sophie then followed. How do you explain to a two-and-a-half and a three-and-a-half year old what has happened and why they will never see them again?"
Superintendent Guy Hindle, from Cheshire Police said: "This tragedy is not about foreign lorry drivers on British roads. It is about a dreadful crash that wiped out a generation of one family and was due to one driver's gross inattention."
Mr Hindle was asked what lessons could be learned from the tragedy.
He replied: "Anybody who drives on the roads, let alone a motorway, the lessons learned from this is inattention can be fatal, magnified by driving a vehicle of that nature.
"We can all pay more attention when we drive."
