Mum dies in Greek bike crash tragedy

Jun 20 2007 By Steve Johnson, Birmingham Mail

A MIDLAND college lecturer has been killed in a tragic quad bike accident on a dream holiday with her boyfriend, it was revealed today.

Maggie Briggs, a 54-year-old mother with a "zest for life", was killed instantly when her partner lost control of the quad bike on the Greek island of Kos.

Her heartbroken son Simon, aged 28, said today that his mother's partner, 56-year-old builder Billy Powell, was driving the quad bike with his mother, a lecturer at Sandwell College, on the back.

"It appears that Billy lost control of the quad bike, which skidded on gravel going around a corner," he said. "The machine slewed out of control onto a grass verge and then hit a barbed-wire fence.

"It was on an incline and the front wheels became tangled up, causing the machine to topple over.

"Mum would have probably been okay but the machine toppled onto its side and her head smashed into a tree."

He added: "She was wearing a crash helmet which had been supplied but the helmet was not substantial to say the least and she was killed instantly."

Simon said that Billy, who had been with his mother for about three years, escaped with cuts and bruises and had returned to the couple's home in Stourbridge Road, Kidderminster.

Simon, who lives in East Sussex and has a brother Tim, aged 27, added: "We can't believe what has happened.

"My mother and Billy were made for each other and were having a great time living life to the full. My mother was so happy with him and had got to a marvellous point in her life."

The accident happened last Tuesday and staff at the college were today struggling to come to terms with the tragedy.

Val Bailey, principal and chief executive at Sandwell College, said: "Maggie's tragic death has come as a shock to us all.

"She was a valued staff member who was committed and dedicated to her area of work. Our thoughts are with Maggie's family."

Maggie had been a lecturer in Information Communications Technology at the Oldbury college campus for a number of years.