Lorry driver charged over deaths of father and sons

A 25-year-old lorry driver was last night charged with three counts of causing death by dangerous driving after a man and his two young sons were killed in a car crash.

Steven Murray, of East Tilbury, Essex, will appear before Grays magistrates today charged with causing the death of Andrew Cole, 37, a farmer, and his sons Henry, four, and two-year-old George. He was arrested on Sunday afternoon after failing a breath test at the scene of the accident in Chadwell St Mary, Essex.

Mr Cole's wife, Susan, was seriously ill in hospital with multiple head injuries after doctors performed an emergency Caesarean section to deliver her baby hours after the accident. Her 9lb 9oz baby boy is doing well, and Mrs Cole has been told of the tragedy, doctors said. The couple's daughter Grace, six, is in a satisfactory condition in hospital with pelvic injuries.