Coach crash driver to face judge

Feb 20 2012

The driver of a coach carrying British schoolchildren home from a ski trip which crashed in northern France, killing a teacher and injuring several others, will appear before a judge later.

The coach driver will appear in a court at Chalons-en-Champagne pending further inquiries into the crash in the early hours of Sunday morning, prosecutor Christian de Rocquigny confirmed. He declined to give the name of the driver.

The driver has been questioned about the crash since his release from hospital on Sunday.

Initial tests showed he was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and local police are believed to be investigating whether he might have fallen asleep at the wheel.

His appearance before a judge comes after tributes were paid to Peter Rippington, the teacher who died when the coach crashed near Reims.

Mr Rippington was a "dedicated and inspirational teacher", Bryan Maybee, chairman of governors at Alvechurch Middle School, said in a statement read outside the school.

"He will be so sadly missed by all those who knew him," he said.

Dozens of children were injured when the bus flipped over and plunged to the bottom of a motorway embankment in the Champagne-Ardenne region.

Mr Rippington's wife Sharon and daughter Amy were also injured in the crash, which involved 29 pupils from the school in Alvechurch, Worcestershire.

M Rocquigny said 11 people remain in hospital, six of them seriously injured. He said a 13-year-old girl had been transferred for treatment at the Necker children's hospital in Paris, where she has undergone an operation.