An inquest has heard that a teenager who perished when a school bus crashed on a motorway was one of a few people on board wearing a seatbelt at the time of the collision. Jessica Baker, 15, was on her way to West Kirby Grammar School in Wirral on Merseyside when the coach crashed on the northbound side of the M53. The accident happened just after 08:00 BST on 29 September.
The inquest in Liverpool heard that nineteen people, including the driver, were on the bus at the time of the accident, with the majority of them (as shown by CCTV) not having any seatbelts on. The coroner said that various passengers were “unrestrained” at the time of the crash, but that Jessica, who appeared to be sitting in place, was “not moving in the same way everyone else is moving.” The coroner declared that Jessica’s post-mortem examinations indicated that she had bruising consistent with having a seatbelt on.
The inquest revealed that the driver, Stephen Shrimpton, 40, who also died, had heart disease. This condition caused him to pass out at the wheel of the bus. The CCTV footage captures Mr Shrimpton slumping to his left-hand side before the vehicle left the motorway, went up an embankment, hit a tree, and then rolled back on to the hard shoulder.
The results from the post-mortem examination disclosed that Mr Shrimpton had extensive ischemic heart disease. This disease may have triggered a sudden life-threatening collapse and demise. The court heard that this diagnosis would explain chest and arm pain, which he had mentioned the evening before but it was not clear whether he had symptoms the following morning.
Finally, Jessica’s cause of death was a head injury and was deemed a road traffic collision, and no inquest was necessary into Mr Shrimpton’s death because it was due to natural causes. Jessica’s parents, nurses Sean Baker and Sarah Merrington, were present at the hearing with Mr Rebello telling the family: “I know she was very much loved.
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