A GERMAN lorry driver is to appear in court next month charged with involuntary manslaughter following an horrific crash that killed three people, including a Suffolk schoolboy.

By Danielle Nuttall

A GERMAN lorry driver is to appear in court next month charged with involuntary manslaughter following an horrific crash that killed three people, including a Suffolk schoolboy.

The 32-year-old man, whose identity has not been revealed, is due to attend the local court of Kerpen, near Cologne, for trial on October 10, German authorities have confirmed.

He faces charges of involuntary manslaughter in connection with a fatal motorway crash, near Cologne, in the early hours of February 11 this year.

The accident happened when a double-decker coach, carrying pupils and staff from Thomas Mills High School in Framlingham, near Woodbridge, suffered a puncture and had to pull over on to the hard shoulder.

The stationary coach, which was on its way to a half-term ski break in the Austrian resort of Fugen, was then struck from behind by a lorry carrying sheet metal.

Stuart Dines, 14, was killed when a piece of metal from the lorry smashed through one of the coach windows.

The lorry was then involved in a second collision with another British coach carrying 36 pupils, plus staff, from the private Norwich School, which was also heading to a half-term skiing trip in the Alps.

Jane Irving, 53, a school secretary, and off-duty coach driver Ron Lees, 69, who were both travelling on the Norfolk coach, were also killed in the accident.

Next month's court hearing follows an ongoing investigation by German authorities into the crash.

No other details about the case have been revealed at this stage but a judgement in the German lorry driver's trial is expected to be given on the same day.

Brian Marjoram, a coach driver with Great Yarmouth-based Ambassador Travel, who was driving the Norfolk coach at the time of the crash, is still waiting to hear whether he will face any action.

A spokesman from Ambassador Travel said the company was still in the dark at the moment.

“We are in regular contact with the police liaison officer and I understand he is going to Germany and is hoping to give us more information when he comes back,” he added.

A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed a date of October 10 had been set for the trial of the German lorry driver but said no new information was available in relation to Mr Marjoram.

A spokesman for Norfolk police said officers from the force were travelling out to Germany next month to liaise with German authorities but did not have further information on the forthcoming trial.

danielle.nuttall@eadt.co.uk