A father who crashed his Land Rover into a river, killing four of his seven children, was found guilty today of causing their deaths by driving dangerously.

Nigel Gresham, 37, had made “incompetent” modifications to his vehicle, which crashed into the River Witham in Lincolnshire in September last year killing Willow, 2, Angel, 4, Thor, 6, and Keavy, 8.

Gresham has been bailed until January 23 when he will be sentenced. The judge warned that he could face jail.

Sara Bolland, Mr Gresham’s partner, and their three eldest children survived the crash. Ms Bolland said outside court today that the verdict was irrelevant after what had befallen her family.

“I don’t think it matters what happened in the trial, I will never get to see or feel my sweet babies again. Nothing now will ever bring them back,” she said.

“It doesn’t matter how angry I am, it won’t bring my babies back. Now all I ask is that we be left in peace to try to rebuild our lives to the best of our ability.”

Lincoln Crown Court was told that Gresham had customised his 12-seat Land Rover 110 to enhance its off-road performance, but these modifications had rendered the vehicle dangerous and unroadworthy.

Timothy Spencer, QC, prosecuting, said: “A major pastime was driving it off-road and it may be that a number of the modifications were intended to assist him with that. Sadly, they didn’t assist him with driving on-road.

“A number of the modifications were ill-judged, many were incompetently carried out and he also failed to carry out a number of repairs.”

The jury were shown DVD footage of police tests carried out on the car at RAF Scampton, which found that the calliper on the offside front brake was larger than the one on the nearside front brake, which caused the car to slew when the brakes were applied.

Mr Spencer told the jury that the brake pedals were worn and that, as a result, the brake pedal had to be pressed “pretty much down to the floor” before it began to stop the car.

Experts also found the steering and rear axle to be defective.

In Gresham’s defence, his lawyer pointed out that the Land Rover had passed an MOT test seven months before.

Gresham’s partner and their children Liam, Amber and Star, were in the car at the time of the crash, which was witnessed by fellow motorists on the road at Tattershall Bridge near Coningsby.

Times Recommends

• Don't despair: great players learn from defeat
• Pope clears way for Cardinal Newman sainthood
• Ecclestone: despots are underrated