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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Barney Davis

A10 crash: First pictures of Dagenham father and baby daughter killed together

William Jesson, 22, and his 18-month-old baby daughter Eve

(Picture: Cambridgeshire Police)

A mother is fighting for life in hospital after a horror car crash killed her partner and 18-month baby daughter.

William Jesson, 22, and his 18-month-old baby daughter Eve, were killed in the crash after the family from Dagenham’s Ford Fiesta collided with a jack-knifing lorry on the A10 at 2.50pm on Saturday.

A woman, believed to be Mr Jesson’s fiancée, survived the collision near Chittering but is in a critical condition in hospital.

Her 3-year-old daughter escaped with “serious but non-life-threatening injuries”, police said.

The Jesson family paid tribute to Mr Jesson calling him the “best son, father, brother and uncle anyone could ask for”.

They added: “He was such a kind-hearted man and the best dad to his girls and partner to his fiancée. He was kind, caring and made us laugh with his silly ways. He will be forever in our hearts and memories. Nothing will be the same without him, he was just a ray of sunshine and lit up a room.

“Eve was in this world for such a short period of time, but blessed us every day with her beautiful smile, her baby growls and her sweet nature. She made our hearts melt with pride. As a whole family we love you both so much and you will both be forever missed.”

Cambridgeshire Police are appealing for witnesses or dashcam footage of the blue Ford Fiesta, which was travelling south, crashing into the lorry.

The lorry jack-knifed in the collision and crashed into a water-filled ditch.

The driver, a man in his 40s from Grantham, suffered minor injuries and remained at the scene while the driver of a third vehicle, a woman in her 80s, from Downham Market, whose bronze Ford Fiesta was struck by the lorry as it entered the ditch, was uninjured.

No arrests have been made so far in the investigation.

Det Sgt Craig Wheeler said: “This is a truly tragic incident, in which a father and his young daughter have lost their lives. Our thoughts go out to their family and friends at this terribly difficult time.

“We are working hard to establish exactly what happened, and while we spoke to a number of witnesses at the scene, we are still appealing to anyone who witnessed the collision or who may have dashcam footage of the vehicles leading up to the incident to please get in touch if they haven’t done so already.”

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