Jessica Lawson drowning: Three British teachers found not guilty over girl’s pontoon death during school trip in France

Three British teachers have been found not guilty by a court in France over the death of a 12-year-old girl on a school trip.

Steven Layne, Chantelle Lewis and Daisy Stathers, from Wolfreton School in Willerby, near Hull, were accused of the French equivalent of manslaughter by gross negligence after Jessica Lawson drowned in July 2015.

Jessica, who was the youngest child on the trip, became trapped after a pontoon capsized in a lake near the city of Limoges.

The trio have now been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Palais de Justice in the town of Tulle.

Leo Lemaire, the lifeguard on duty at the time of the incident, and the local authority in the town of Liginiac were also found not guilty.

Earlier, French prosecutors argued the teachers and the lifeguard should be jailed for three years.

Jessica’s father, Tony Lawson, left the courtroom when the not guilty verdicts were announced, with both Ms Lewis and Ms Stathers breaking down in tears.

Giving the judgments, the head of jurisdiction in Tulle, Marie-Sophie Waguette, said of the incident: “The area was being surveyed by the lifeguard, the lifeguard was present, the flag was green.

“There was not any reason to think that the floating platform could turn over. We don’t know why her drowning took place at the time when the platform turned over.

“There is therefore no evidence to show that they were negligent – therefore you are found not guilty.”

One of the lawyers acting on behalf of Mr Layne, Anis Harabi, had said Jessica’s death was an accident with no “culprits” – adding his client should not be expected to be a “clairvoyant”.

Mr Layne did not believe it was dangerous because the swimming zone was “supervised”, according to Mr Harabi.

Teacher ‘thought pontoon was safety feature’

Mr Layne’s other lawyer, Dominique Tricaud, said the teachers acted “simultaneously” when they realised Jessica was missing and that the trio were surveying “tirelessly”.

The trial heard how Ms Lewis and Ms Stathers began to “panic” after noticing Jessica was missing, with both becoming emotional on the witness stand.

Mr Layne said he thought the pontoon was a safety feature and saw no signs of distress when he looked at the lifeguard after it capsized.

The youngster’s mother, Brenda Lawson, said her family had been through “torturous suffering” since her daughter’s death, describing her as “full of fun, laughter and care”.

Jessica’s swimming should have been monitored with vigilance – prosecutor

Prosecutor Myriam Soria said: “Jessica Lawson was a good swimmer. She was a little girl. Her swimming should have been monitored with vigilance.”

Ms Soria said none of the teachers could see where Jessica was during the swim due to a lack of surveillance.

Addressing the pontoon itself, the prosecutor said the local authority “knew about instability and knew about its age.”