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TEACHER ON TRIAL FOR MANSLAUGHTER AFTER PUPIL 'HANGED HIMSELF IN CORRIDOR'
The Times, UK
September 24, 2013 Tuesday 5:08 PM GMT
by Adam Sage, Paris
An 11-year-old boy hanged himself on a coat hook after being ordered
out of his classroom and left for 45 minutes in a primary school
corridor, a French court was told today.
Agnès Maulard-Lelong, 42, his teacher, denied charges of manslaughter
and endangering life as she went on trial over the death of Khoren
Grimaldi.
However, she told Tarascon Criminal Court in the South of France that
she felt "morally responsible" for what had happened in May 2011.
The court was told that Mrs Maulard-Lelong, a teacher in the Anne Frank
school in Arles, Provence, had told the boy to leave the classroom
when he refused to do a grammar exercise.
"In class, pupils work," she said, according to evidence given
in court.
"You don't want to work so go in the corridor with the coats, which
don't work."
Three quarters of an hour later, the boy was found unconscious, hanging
from a coat hook by his T-shirt, the court was told. School staff
were unable to revive him and he died in hospital three days later.
Laure Grimaldi, Khoren's mother, said that her son had taken the
teacher at her word as a joke in an attempt to "wriggle out of the
punishment".
However, she said that Mrs Maulard-Lelong had failed in her duty to
keep an eye on Khoren - a name of Armenian origin that means Little
Sun - while he was in the corridor.
Mrs Grimaldi and Nicolas, her husband, brought a private prosecution
to prevent such an event from happening again, their lawyer, Maître
Louis Sayn-Urpar, told the court.
He said: "Mrs Maulard-Lelong could not see Khoren and that is what
made the accident possible."
Mr Sayn-Urpar said that when other teachers in the school ordered
pupils out of the classroom, they told them to sit opposite the door
to remain visible.
"If Mrs Maulard-Lelong had acted in the same way, Khoren would be
with us today," he said.
The court was also told that school regulations allowed teachers to
inflict a "momentary period of isolation" on turbulent pupils.
Mr Sayn-Urpar said that the 45 minutes Khoren spent in the corridor
were "unusually long" and "do not correspond to the regulations." The
court was told that Khoren had asked to be let back into the classroom
after half an hour. Mrs Maulard-Lelong had told him: "I don't want
to see you any more."
The teacher denied that Khoren had been left on his own, saying:
"Pupils went out to talk to him." She said she had kept her job
in the school and had the support of her colleagues and the local
education authority.
Vincent Mick, the prosecutor, called for Mrs Maulard-Lelong to be
found not guilty, saying there was no case to answer.
She had committed a professional mistake, but not a crime in the eyes
of the law, he said.
The teacher faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a
five of (EURO)75,000 (£63,000) if found guilty.
The court will deliver its judgment on October 29.
The Times, UK
September 24, 2013 Tuesday 5:08 PM GMT
by Adam Sage, Paris
An 11-year-old boy hanged himself on a coat hook after being ordered
out of his classroom and left for 45 minutes in a primary school
corridor, a French court was told today.
Agnès Maulard-Lelong, 42, his teacher, denied charges of manslaughter
and endangering life as she went on trial over the death of Khoren
Grimaldi.
However, she told Tarascon Criminal Court in the South of France that
she felt "morally responsible" for what had happened in May 2011.
The court was told that Mrs Maulard-Lelong, a teacher in the Anne Frank
school in Arles, Provence, had told the boy to leave the classroom
when he refused to do a grammar exercise.
"In class, pupils work," she said, according to evidence given
in court.
"You don't want to work so go in the corridor with the coats, which
don't work."
Three quarters of an hour later, the boy was found unconscious, hanging
from a coat hook by his T-shirt, the court was told. School staff
were unable to revive him and he died in hospital three days later.
Laure Grimaldi, Khoren's mother, said that her son had taken the
teacher at her word as a joke in an attempt to "wriggle out of the
punishment".
However, she said that Mrs Maulard-Lelong had failed in her duty to
keep an eye on Khoren - a name of Armenian origin that means Little
Sun - while he was in the corridor.
Mrs Grimaldi and Nicolas, her husband, brought a private prosecution
to prevent such an event from happening again, their lawyer, Maître
Louis Sayn-Urpar, told the court.
He said: "Mrs Maulard-Lelong could not see Khoren and that is what
made the accident possible."
Mr Sayn-Urpar said that when other teachers in the school ordered
pupils out of the classroom, they told them to sit opposite the door
to remain visible.
"If Mrs Maulard-Lelong had acted in the same way, Khoren would be
with us today," he said.
The court was also told that school regulations allowed teachers to
inflict a "momentary period of isolation" on turbulent pupils.
Mr Sayn-Urpar said that the 45 minutes Khoren spent in the corridor
were "unusually long" and "do not correspond to the regulations." The
court was told that Khoren had asked to be let back into the classroom
after half an hour. Mrs Maulard-Lelong had told him: "I don't want
to see you any more."
The teacher denied that Khoren had been left on his own, saying:
"Pupils went out to talk to him." She said she had kept her job
in the school and had the support of her colleagues and the local
education authority.
Vincent Mick, the prosecutor, called for Mrs Maulard-Lelong to be
found not guilty, saying there was no case to answer.
She had committed a professional mistake, but not a crime in the eyes
of the law, he said.
The teacher faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a
five of (EURO)75,000 (£63,000) if found guilty.
The court will deliver its judgment on October 29.