"It's not a success - it's a loss"

Insp Kent said: “I had not felt the cold at all until I came out. Then it was just unbelievably cold.

“I remember watching my skin turning purple.

“I was trying to think through what to do next and all I could think was that I was incredibly cold.

“Somehow, somebody made me aware that Gabby was still unaccounted for – but we hadn’t a clue where to start.

“All you can think is, ‘There could be another child’. Is the other child still in the car or down the river, having gone with the flow? Where?

“All these thoughts are going through your mind.

“The fire brigade were there and one of the Evesham fire crew got tied to a rope and got into the river at the point where we thought the car might be.

“I think he was able to stand on the roof and kick in the sunroof, but he could do no more.

“Anybody trying to enter the vehicle, even if they could find their way in the dark, I’m convinced they would not get out again.”

The officers were later told the car was at least seven feet under the murky water.

The shivering inspector was sent by paramedics to sit in a car to try to warm up.

He said: “I remember it was quite a hard moment for me when I was sitting in the car and they were about to send Ryan off in the air ambulance.

“One of my team came up and said, ‘They don’t think he’s going to make it’.”

Police divers pulled Gabby’s lifeless body through the sunroof and she was taken to hospital in the hope she could be resuscitated. She died on Sunday, February 14.

Her death has clearly affected Insp Kent.

He said: “We are the people of last resort so that’s why we did what we did – but sometimes, some things are beyond us and all you can do is your best.

“Going for Gabby briefly entered my mind but it was physically beyond me.

“People say you must be pleased [about saving Ryan] but I’m not. I’d have been over the moon if we had got them both out. I still think about it. It’s not a success, it’s a loss really.”

Sgt Stayte said he was angry at the situation but overcame his frustrations by carrying on with his job.

He said: “I think you’ve got to know your limits in these situations and know where you can have a positive effect.

“There was a crime scene so we said we will maintain the scene and we will provide the best evidence to support whatever the outcome is.”

He organised officers from the riverbank, making sure one stayed with Grady and asking others to preserve the scene and take photographs of tyre tracks, which were clearly visible in the morning frost.

A court would later be told that Grady had driven fast around the field before driving to the top to gain distance from the bank and accelerating towards the water.

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