Police investigate death of Torquay pupil on ski trip

Kieran Brooks' was injured on a chair lift

Police are investigating the death of a teenage boy from south Devon after he was injured on a school ski trip in France.

Kieran Brooks, 14, from Newton Abbot, died on Thursday morning at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.

He had been in a coma following the accident in the resort of Chatel on 23 February.

The Torquay Boys' Grammar School pupil was injured when his equipment became trapped in a chair lift.

His fellow pupils have been informed of his death, the school said.

Kieran was with a group from the school on a half-term trip when his equipment snagged in the chair lift, restricting his airway and causing him to choke.

He was airlifted to hospital in Annecy where medical staff tried unsuccessfully to bring him out of his coma.

Kieran was flown back to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, in Exeter, on 5 March.

A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesperson said: "He passed away peacefully with his family around him."

The police force is now investigating Kieran's death on behalf of HM Coroner.

The spokesperson said their enquiries would involve liaising with the French authorities but that, at this time, it was not being treated as a criminal inquiry.

Torquay Boys' Grammar head teacher, Roy Pike, said poems had been read out and music that had been especially composed for Kieran had been played at assemblies.

He said: "You can imagine the devastation across the school.

"Our condolences go out to his parents."