A former head teacher facing rape and sex abuse charges suffocated when he was crushed after his car crashed into the back of a lorry.

Graham Priest, 54, died after his Citroën C4 smashed into the HGV parked in a lay-by on the A249 Sheppey-bound near his hometown of Sittingbourne on Saturday, January 14.

The ex-boarding school head died just days before he was due to stand trial at Northampton Crown Court for rape and a string of historic sex offences.

Mr Priest was the head teacher of Falcon Manor boarding School, near Towcester, Northamptonshire, before it closed in 1999.

Opening the inquest this week into the Peregrine Drive resident’s death, senior coroner Patricia Harding adjourned the case until a hearing on July 31.

Police are appealing for witnesses to call the Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 01622 798535 quoting number 008/17.