Grace Payne
(Picture: Family Handout)This is the first picture of a “caring” HR worker killed by a van fleeing police on the wrong side of the A13.
Grace Payne, 21, was on her way home to Upminster from a work night out when she was killed in the head-on collision at 2.35am on November 25.
Horrific footage shows a white van speeding into oncoming traffic on the main road before smashing into Grace’s Toyota Prius in which she was sitting in the passenger seat.
Witnesses described seeing the young woman, who had just started work at an architecture firm, being pulled out of the wreckage first with both drivers trapped in their vehicles.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Grace’s parents spoke of how they were “struggling to come to terms” with the fact that their daughter will never be coming home.
They said in a statement: “She made us proud in so many ways. She was caring, compassionate, bright, funny, bubbly - her friends always said that she had the ability to brighten up their day.
“She loved children, and although happily working in HR, she said her long-term goal was to retrain when she reached 30 and become a primary school teacher. When she helped her Dad and brother, Jack, coach the juniors at Brentwood Cricket Club, she was usually entrusted with the youngest age groups, supplying cuddles whenever necessary.”
They added: “She was a 21-year-old starting to live life to the full after the confinements of Covid.
“If Grace was out with a group of friends, it was always said she was the one looking after everyone else, making sure they would get home safely. Last week, she joined work colleagues on their regular Thursday night out. Tragically, she never made it home.”
The driver of the van, a 39-year-old man, was taken to hospital where he remains in a serious condition.
The van had failed to stop for Essex Police officers prior to entering the A13.
Essex Police said their officers had followed the van using the correct side of the road.
He has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and failing to stop for police. He remains in police custody in hospital.
The driver of the Prius is still receiving treatment in hospital but is not thought to have been seriously injured.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct is carrying out a separate investigation into the involvement of Essex Police officers prior to the crash.
A spokesman said: “We have established that a white Peugeot Boxer van travelled down the wrong side of the carriageway, with officers in an unmarked police car following on the correct side of the A13, before the Peugeot was involved in a collision with an oncoming Toyota Prius.
“Tragically a passenger in the Prius, a 21-year-old woman, died at the scene. We have contacted the woman’s family to express our condolences and explain our role and will continue to keep them updated as the investigation progresses. Our investigation is still in its early stages.”
