Fresh inquiry into boys's death (From Penarth Times)

Fresh inquiry into boys's death

THE DEATH of a Vale boy which launched a massive review of school transport throughout the whole area is to be reinvestigated by police.

Following a review of the original inquiry by South Wales Police into the accident that killed Stuart Cunningham-Jones on December 3, 2002 an incident room has been set up for the fresh probe.

The review was carried out after the inquest into Stuart's death was completed. In line with its recommendations, South Wales Police has now started a re-investigation into the circumstances surrounding Stuart's death. The incident room has been set up at Penarth Police Station.

Stuart, of Ystrad Owen, was travelling home from Cowbridge Comprehensive when the double decker bus he was on veered off the road and collided with a tree.

Despite many of his friends suffering multiple injuries, Stuart was the only fatality.

The inquest into the 12-year-old's death, held in January this year, returned a verdict of accidental death after it was revealed that 'horse play' on the lower deck led to the driver losing control.

But Stuart's parents, who launched Stuart's Campaign to tighten safety measures on school transport, have not been convinced the first investigation covered all possibilities.

His father, David, said: "We need to know that everything possible has been done and our feeling coming out of the inquest was that things weren't properly done. Hopefully that will be corrected.

"For the future it is quite important to know that everything that could possibly be done was done.

"We felt there were several lines that weren't really investigated thoroughly enough and we are happy the police review has reached the same conclusion.

"We just hope the police will be very thorough ad very swift so we can know the outcome as soon as possible. It is traumatic because it re-opens wounds and we have to cope with that. But at the same time we want this to be done properly."