British teachers found not guilty after death of girl, 12, on French school trip

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Giving her verdicts through a translator to the Palais de Justice in Tulle on Wednesday, the head of jurisdiction in Tulle, Marie-Sophie Waguette, said of the incident: “With regard to the teachers, Mr Layne, Ms Lewis and Ms Stathers, you have been accused of not having correctly conformed with risk-evaluation regulations. “There was not any reason to think that the floating platform could turn over.” Ms Waguette said the court knew a time period of between five and 10 minutes had elapsed between the platform overturning and the lifeguard recovering Jessica from the water. “There is therefore no evidence to show that they were negligent, therefore you are found not guilty.” On Tuesday, their trial heard how Ms Lewis “started to panic” during the incident and “asked ‘where’s Jess’?” Her colleague, Ms Stathers, said she also became “increasingly panicked” after realising Jessica was missing, adding: “But there were 23 other students we were trying to get out so I was trying to stay calm.” The teacher who was in charge of the trip, Mr Layne, told the court he thought the pontoon was a safety feature. Mr Layne was quizzed about Jessica’s death and said there was not “any sort of distress” from students or the lifeguard during the incident.