Headmaster killed in crash hours before rape trial

A FORMER public school headmaster, who was about to stand trial accused of rape, died of suffocation after crashing his car into a parked lorry at high speed, an inquest has heard.

Graham Priest, 54, who was the head teacher at the Falcon Manor boarding school near Towcester, Northants, before it closed in 1999, died in January, the evening before he was due in court.

Mr Priest, who had more recently worked as a salesman, had been charged with a string of sex offences going back almost 30 years, including the rape of a woman, aged over 16, in 1988 and three counts of indecent assault on girls and two on women between 1995 and 1998.

Senior Coroner Patricia Harding was told Mr Priest died when his Citroen C4 smashed into the back of an HGV lorry that was legally parked in a lay-by near his home in Sittingbourne, Kent.

The coroner was told that the cause of death had been given as suffocation after Mr Priest was crushed in the wrecked car. No further details about the accident were given and the inquest was adjourned until July 31.

Mr Priest had been due to appear at Northampton Crown Court on Monday Jan 17 for his trial. The crash happened at around 7pm the previous evening. At the time, a friend of two alleged victims said they were extremely disappointed that the trial would not go on.