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French court acquits four over death of British schoolgirl

A French court on Wednesday acquitted three English teachers and a lifeguard accused over the 2015 drowning of a 12-year-old British schoolgirl in France.

French court acquits four over death of British schoolgirl
The lac de la Triouzoune, where the British schoolgirl drowned. Photo: Google street view

Jessica Lawson drowned in July 2015 after a swim in a lake with 23 other British children on a school trip. She died after the pontoon they were playing on capsized near Limoges in southwest central France.

The trial began Tuesday in nearby Tulle, attended by the child’s parents.

The suspects including the teachers from Hull, northeast England, and the lifeguard on duty at the time were charged with manslaughter caused by a “deliberate breach of safety or caution”.

The judges said on Wednesday there were too many elements in the case that were unclear including exactly when the child disappeared in the water.

The court also could not establish a link between the pontoon overturning and the schoolgirl’s death.

The local authority was also cleared of any role in the death.

It was the lifeguard who had found the missing child at the bottom of the lake (lac de la Triouzoune) on July 21 and she was airlifted to hospital. She died the next day.

The public prosecutor had requested a suspended sentence of three years for the teachers and the same for the lifeguard, who was 21 years old at the time, as well as a lifetime ban on doing similar work.

The suspects denied that they had failed to provide proper surveillance.

A lawyer for the schoolgirl’s family said they hoped the public prosecutor would appeal the court’s decision, pointing to many issues.

“A young girl of 12 disappeared, the pontoon was dangerous and there was an obvious lack of surveillance. Another court must hear this,” lawyer Eloi Chan told AFP.

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PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

6,000 French police to welcome Olympic torch amid bonus boost

Some 6,000 police will be deployed for the arrival of the Olympic flame in France next month, authorities said Friday as they announced bonuses for security forces to avert threatened industrial action.

6,000 French police to welcome Olympic torch amid bonus boost

The police presence in the southern port of Marseille when the torch arrives from Greece on May 8 will be bigger than for a visit to the city by Pope Francis in September last year.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said an elite tactical unit, bomb disposal teams, nautical police and an anti-drone team would be in place when a 19th-century sailing boat, the Belem, enters the port. Organisers expect 150,000 people to be watching.

The extra forces will be in addition to local police and firefighters.

The torch was handed over to French Olympics organisers in Athens on Friday and the Belem will set sail on Saturday. The Paris Olympics start on July 26.

Darmanin said more than 1,000 boats that will complete the journey with the Belem will all be checked.

The minister said there was no “specific threat” to the torch event, but that law enforcement was prepared for scenarios including a “radical Islamism” attack along with far-right and far-left extremists.

France is on a heightened Olympics security alert. A 16-year-old boy was formally charged Friday after he allegedly said on social media he wanted to make an explosive belt and die a martyr at the Paris Games, anti-terrorism prosecutors said.

Investigators said the youth had been looking at “Jihadist propaganda” online.

Authorities had also feared action by police after unions threatened to disrupt the torch relay around the country, accusing the government of blocking promised bonuses.

The government announced Friday that a 50-euro monthly bonus would start for some police from July 1, which would be increased to 100 euros a month in 2025.

Unions said that Paris region police on duty during the Olympics would get a 1,900-euro bonus. This was confirmed in a letter sent to unions on Wednesday.

Unions welcomed the move but the Alliance Police Nationale said it would remain “vigilant” and could still order action over the taxation of the bonuses and overtime hours.

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