London: Friends were paying tribute last night to five members of the same family — including a toddler — who died in a car crash on their way to a dancing competition.
David and Angela Cockburn, their daughters Carley, 21, and Bethany, 18, and Bethany’s 23-month-old daughter Lacie died when their Nissan Primera car collided with a lorry.
The crash happened near Grimsby as the family, from Ouston, County Durham, drove towards the Butlins holiday camp at Skegness, where Carley and Bethany were due to take part in a disco-dancing competition.
Three of the family died at the scene and the other two later in hospital.
The driver of the light goods vehicle is thought to have suffered minor injuries. Lacie’s soldier father, Garry Stephenson — who was not in the car — had recently returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan with the Scots Guards.
Friends said yesterday that he was devoted to his girlfriend and baby daughter who he referred to as his “gorgeous girl” on his Facebook page.
Melanie Willis, a family friend from Newcastle, said the close-knit former mining area where the family lived had been left ‘devastated’. A tribute page on Facebook attracted more than 10,000 followers within hours of being set up.
“They are a lovely family - they were so popular and you could not wish to know nicer people,” said Willis. “Angela and David were devoted to their children and to their granddaughter.”
“It is so sad that as a family they had made that journey using that route to Skegness many, many times since the girls were little.”
Angela ran a sunbed and beauty shop in a Newcastle suburb while Cockburn worked for Gateshead Council supporting people with learning disabilities.
It is understood that the couple’s surviving son, Dean, is being supported by specially trained family liaison officers from Humberside Police.
In 2011 the Grimsby stretch of the A18, where the crash happened, featured in a BBC programme, Britain’s Most Dangerous Roads, when it was claimed to be 25 times more dangerous than the average British roads.
