British teachers face court after girl drowned on school trip to France

British teachers on a school trip where a 12-year-old girl died after becoming trapped under a capsized pontoon should be jailed for three years, French prosecutors say.

Jessica Lawson was one of 24 children from Wolfreton School near Hull who had been swimming in a lake near the city of Limoges on a “very hot day” in July 2015 when the plastic platform overturned.

Steven Layne, the teacher who was in charge of the trip, told the court at the Palais de Justice in the French town of Tulle he thought the pontoon was a safety feature.