Teacher killed in accident

Wednesday, 22 February 2012 16:03

Written by Editor

The teacher killed in the coach crash in the early hours of Sunday morning on the A26 near Reims in the Champagne-Ardennes area of Northern France named as 59-year-old Peter Rippington (pictured below with his wife). His wife, Sharon, and daughter Amy, 24, were also on the coach and injured in the crash. The British driver of the coach, 47-year-old Derek Thompson, was arrested following the accident, normal procedure in France. He is being investigated for alleged “involuntary homicide”, but has since been released on bail and can return to the UK. The reports so far have confirmed that drink and drugs tests have come back negative but local police suspect that he may have fallen asleep at the wheel.

The coach was making its way back to Worcestershire from Italy following a school skiing trip for Alvechurch Middle School when it flipped over and came to rest at the bottom of an embankment.

A total of 29 pupils were involved in the crash. A 13-year-old girl, Suzie Warner, was airlifted to Paris for treatment in a coma and has since undergone an operation after which she was described as being in a “stable condition”. Seven people remain in hospital in France.
Flowers were left outside the school in remembrance of the much loved teacher.