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Driver convicted over deaths of Gosport friends Zoe West and Victoria Pickering
A van driver has been found guilty of killing two young women in a horrific motorway crash.
Friends Zoe West, 34, and Victoria Pickering, 27, both from Gosport, died when their red Ford Escort collided with a Mercedes van, Vauxhall Astra and a lorry M6 in Lancashire last July.
Nigel Kirkham, 45, had denied two counts of causing death by dangerous driving after being involved in a four-vehicle smash on the M6 in Lancashire.
But Kirkham, of Chestnut Avenue, Swadlincote, near Derby, was convicted by a jury at Preston Crown Court yesterday.
The jury unanimously found Kirkham guilty of two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.
Delivery driver Kirkham was behind the wheel of a white Mercedes van travelling northbound when he shunted the back of an articulated truck.
The impact caused his van to come to a stop, straddling two lanes, where it was hit by two cars.
Miss West, of Chapel Square, Gosport, suffered severe brain injuries in the crash and died the next day in Royal Preston Hospital after her parents made the agonising decision to switch off her life-support machine.
Miss Pickering, who lived in Ely Court, Rowner, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Kirkham was remanded in custody by Judge Michael Byrne for sentencing, which is due to take place on July 31.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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