Schoolgirl who died in coach crash was one of few wearing seatbelt, inquest told

A teenager who died when a school bus crashed on a motorway was one of the few onboard wearing a seatbelt at the time, an inquest has heard.

Jessica Baker, 15, was on her way to West Kirby Grammar School in Wirral, Merseyside, when the coach crashed on the northbound M53 just after 8am on September 29 last year.

An inquest at Gerard Majella Courthouse in Liverpool on Thursday heard that driver Stephen Shrimpton, 40, who also died, was suffering heart disease which caused him to collapse at the wheel of the vehicle.

Jessica had been dressed for PE when she was dropped at the bus stop near her home in Blacon, Chester, that morning, the court heard.

Her parents, nurses Sean Baker and Sarah Merrington, were in court for the hearing, which lasted about an hour.

Andre Rebello, senior coroner for Liverpool and Wirral, said CCTV showed many on the bus were “unrestrained” but Jessica appeared to be sitting in place “not moving in the same way everyone else is moving”.

Her post-mortem examination showed bruising consistent with wearing a seatbelt.

Mr Rebello said: “It would be my ruling it is more likely than not that Jessica was wearing a seatbelt at the time of this collision.”

After the inquest was opened in October, he issued a prevention of future deaths report which raised concerns about the use of seatbelts as CCTV did not show they were being used.

In the report, which was sent to the Secretary of State for Transport and the Secretary of State for Education, Mr Rebello said: “A distinction should be drawn between school buses in built-up areas and school commuter coaches travelling a distance using A roads and the motorway network – with regard to the availability and use of seatbelts.”

About 50 students, travelling to West Kirby and Calday Grange grammar schools, were on the coach at the time of the crash.

The inquest heard that CCTV showed Mr Shrimpton, who was not wearing a seatbelt, slump to his left-hand side before the vehicle left the motorway, going up an embankment, hitting a tree and rolling back on to the hard shoulder.

Mr Rebello said a post-mortem examination showed the driver had extensive ischemic heart disease which could have caused an abrupt collapse and sudden death.

The court heard the test results could explain symptoms of chest and arm pain which he had described the evening before the collision, but it was not clear whether he had symptoms that morning.

Mr Rebello said no inquest was held into Mr Shrimpton’s death as it was due to natural causes.

He added that Jessica’s cause of death was a head injury and recorded a conclusion of road traffic collision.

He told the family: “I know she was very much loved.”

After the crash, four other children were taken to hospital, including a 14-year-old boy whose injuries are said to be “life-changing”, according to Merseyside Police.

Others were handled at an emergency training centre, with 13 treated for minor injuries before they were released.

Lawyers for the coach company, Carvers Coaches, and a child who was seriously injured in the collision attended the inquest, along with a lawyer representing Jessica’s family.

After her death, her family paid tribute to the talented climber, who they described as a “warm-hearted, wonderful daughter, granddaughter and niece, devoted sister and loyal friend”.