Footballer charged after children die in crash

Footballer Luke McCormick was charged today with causing the deaths of two young boys by dangerous driving.

Arron Peak, 10, and his brother Ben, eight, were killed in a crash on the M6 in Staffordshire yesterday.

Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper McCormick, 24, was also charged with driving with excess alcohol and driving without insurance, Staffordshire Police said.

The boys' father, Philip Peak, 37, remains seriously ill in intensive care at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire. Police said he has a suspected broken neck and back.

Mr Peak and his wife Amanda said in a statement: "Nothing will ever compensate us for the loss we are feeling."

The brothers were on their way to Silverstone for a "fun day out" when the crash happened, their mother said.

They were travelling in a Toyota Previa people carrier with their father and friends, when the car was in collision with a Black Range Rover shortly before 5.45am.

In a statement read by police family liaison officer PC Andy Kavanagh on her behalf, Mrs Peak, 30, said: "Phil and I are devastated by the sudden and tragic death of our two beautiful boys, Arron and Ben.

"No parent should have to go through the nightmare we have gone through."