Father who killed daughter by driving into river gets life

A FATHER who drove his two “defenceless” young children into a freezing river, killing his five-year-old daughter, was last night beginning a life sentence in jail.

Christopher Grady was imprisoned for life with a minimum term of 15 years for the murder of his daughter Gabrielle Grady, which he had denied.

Mr Justice Lindblom, sentencing at Birmingham Crown Court, also gave the 43-year-old a 10-year jail sentence for the attempted murder of his son, Ryan.

Both children were passengers in the car that Grady plunged into the River Avon in Evesham, Worcestershire, on February 11 last year.

Gabrielle spent two hours trapped in the submerged vehicle and was pronounced dead three days later. Grady and Ryan survived after police and firefighters pulled them from the water.

The judge told Grady: “What you did on the 11th of February 2010 would horrify anyone who is or has been the parent of a young child. It would horrify any right-thinking person.

“You took the life of your daughter Gabby, who was five years old.

“You tried to take the life of your son Ryan, who was six.

“Those crimes were born of anger and self-pity.”

Grady, of no fixed address, had denied both charges but was convicted last Friday.

The three-week trial heard that he had warned the children’s mother, Kim Smith, that she had 10 seconds to say goodbye to them, before he drove into the water at Hampton Ferry.

Smith, 37, said he arrived at her house in Abbot’s Walk, Evesham, at around 9.15am, telling her to say goodbye, before driving away shouting the word “river”. She said his face was “contorted” and “vile” with anger.

Jurors heard the pair had a volatile relationship and had frequently argued about Grady’s access to the children after their break-up.