Man charged over M6 family deaths

The Statham family were killed in a collision between junctions 16 and 17

A Portuguese lorry driver has been charged with six counts of causing death by dangerous driving after a family was killed on the M6.

Chef David Statham, 38, wife Michelle, 33, and children Reece, 13, Jay, nine, Mason, 20 months, and 10-week-old Ellouise died in Cheshire on Monday.

The six, from Llandudno, had visited family in Birmingham before the crash, involving three lorries and two cars.

Paulo Jorge Nogueira de Silva, 46, has been remanded in custody.

He will appear at Chester Crown Court in November.

The family was killed between junctions 16 and 17 of the northbound M6.

'Childhood sweethearts'

Police confirmed Mr de Silva is Portuguese but was living in Spain. His address was given as Calle Romero, Tutana, Murcia.

Mr Statham worked as a chef at St David's College in Llandudno.

Mrs Statham's family said she and her husband were childhood sweethearts who had been together for 19 years.

Tributes poured in for the family, who moved to North Wales from Birmingham four years ago, after news of the crash broke.

The Mayor of Llandudno said a memorial service would be held for them if that was what relatives wanted.

The northbound stretch of the M6 between junctions 16, at Stoke-on-Trent, and 17, for Sandbach, was closed for several hours after the incident.