Girl, 15, thrown from coach in M53 crash, coroner's court told

A 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, a coroner's court has heard.

Jessica Baker, 15, suffered "catastrophic" injuries in the crash on the M53 in Wirral on 29 September.

Liverpool Coroner's Court heard CCTV showed driver Stephen Shrimpton, 40, slump to his left before the crash.

Senior coroner Andre Rebello said it was "miraculous" no-one else died.

Opening and adjourning of the inquests into the deaths of Jessica and Mr Shrimpton, Mr Rebello said the schoolgirl had suffered an "instantaneous" death from the injuries she sustained in the crash near junction five on the northbound M53.

He said the teenager, from Chester, was one of 51 passengers on the bus, who were all pupils at either Jessica's school, West Kirby Grammar School, or another institution, Calday Grange Grammar School.

He said footage from inside the coach showed Mr Shrimpton slump to his left while driving at the same time as the vehicle left the carriageway and went up an embankment, turning on to its side in the process.

"The court has been briefed by the road collision unit investigation and the CCTV footage within the coach," he 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."

The court was told both Mr Shrimpton and Jessica were pronounced dead at the scene.

Merseyside Police said after the crash, four other children were taken to hospital, including a 14-year-old boy whose injuries were said to be "life-changing".

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

Mr Rebello told the court it was "miraculous" no-one else was killed in the crash, which had caused "fatal injury, life-changing injury and serious injury and lots of minor injuries".

He added that anyone over the age of 14 was responsible themselves by law for wearing a seat belt, but he intended to write to the Department of Transport because clarity was needed over the rules for coaches.

"I am old enough to remember the Tufty Club and the Green Cross Code and the public information films about, 'Clunk Click every trip'," he said.

"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 of a seat belt."

The hearings were adjourned ahead of full inquests in March 2024.

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