‘William was the best dad and Eve made our hearts melt with pride’ - family pay tribute after father and 18-month-old die in A10 crash

A family has told how their lives will never be the same again after a crash on the A10 claimed the lives of a 22-year-old man and his 18-month-old daughter.

William Jesson and Eve Jesson, who lived in Dagenham, Essex, died when their blue Ford Fiesta was in collision with a lorry as they travelled south on the A10 near Chittering at 2.50pm on Saturday.

They were pronounced dead at the scene following the collision, during which the lorry jack-knife and crashed into a water-filled ditch.

Two passengers from the car were taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital – a woman in her 20s, also from Dagenham, who is in a critical condition, and a three-year-old girl, who has serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The family said: “William was the best son, father, brother and uncle anyone could ask for. 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.”

The driver of the lorry, 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 and also remained at the scene.

No arrests have been made.

Detective Sergeant Craig Wheeler, from the Beds, Cambs and Herts Road Policing Unit, 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.”

Witnesses or those with dashcam footage are urged to contact police online or via 101 quoting incident 257 of October 15.