Liverpool Coroner’s Court has heard that a teenage girl died after she was partially thrown from a school bus when its driver suffered an “event” at the wheel and the vehicle overturned on a motorway. Jessica Baker, 15, suffered “catastrophic” injuries in the crash on the M53 in Wirral last September. CCTV showed driver Stephen Shrimpton slump to his left before the crash. Senior coroner Andre Rebello stated that it was “miraculous” no-one else died in the accident, which also left a 14-year-old boy with life-changing injuries.
Rebello opened and adjourned the inquests into the deaths of Jessica and Mr Shrimpton. The scholar from West Kirby Grammar School was one of 51 passengers on the bus, which included students from Calday Grange Grammar School. Footage from inside the coach communicates that the vehicle left the carriageway and went up an embankment, turning on its side as it went. “The court has been briefed by the road collision unit investigation and the CCTV footage within the coach,” Rebello said. “It is fairly evident that the driver has suffered an event whereby he is seen to slump to his left side, and it is at this time that the vehicle leaves the carriageway.”
After the tragedy, four other children were taken to hospital, while others were treated for minor injuries. Rebello told the court that it was “miraculous” that no-one else had died, thanking the police and medical staff who had assisted in the response. He added that he intended to write to the Department of Transport because clarity was needed over the rules for coaches, commenting, “I suspect there are generations who have never seen these public information films and may not be fully aware that the chances of severe injury or fatal injury are so much reduced by wearing a seat belt.”
The hearings have been adjourned ahead of full inquests scheduled for March 2024
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