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 a heart disease which caused him to collapse at the wheel of the vehicle.

Senior coroner Andre Rebello said CCTV showed many on the bus were 'unrestrained' but Jessica appeared to be sitting in place not moving the same way as everyone else. Her post-mortem examination also showed bruising consistent with wearing a seatbelt.

This comes after Mr Robello previously said in October last year that CCTV footage showed that none of the students were wearing seatbelts.

Jessica Baker (pictured), 15, was killed instantly when the school coach overturned near junction 5 of the M53 in Wirral, Merseyside, on September 29

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

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.'

Read More

Funeral is held for 15-year-old girl Jessica Baker who died in M53 bus crash while on her way to school

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

Around 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 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.

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

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'.