Girl, five, dies after river plunge

A five-year-old girl who was rescued after the car she was in plunged into the river Avon has died, West Mercia police said today. Gabrielle Grady, known as Gabby, was rescued with her six-year-old brother, Ryan, in Evesham, Worcestershire, on Thursday and airlifted to Birmingham children's hospital. Their father, Christopher Grady, 41, was remanded in custody at Worcestershire magistrates court yesterday, charged with the children's attempted murder. Police said Gabby died peacefully just after 1.30pm today, surrounded by her family. The case is being treated as a murder investigation. Detective Superintendent Steve Cullen, who is leading the investigation, said: "We are very sad to hear this terrible news and all our thoughts are with Gabby's family at this time." Both children were critically ill when admitted to hospital. West Mercia police said yesterday that Ryan appeared to be "recovering quite well" but provided no update on his condition today. An ambulance service spokesman said after the incident that when the emergency services arrived, Ryan and the driver were already out of the silver Vauxhall Vectra estate but Gabby was pulled from the submerged vehicle by police divers about two hours later. The children's family have said that they do not wish to comment and have appealed for privacy.