Teacher gets 12 months over pupil’s drowning

A TEACHER was jailed for 12 months yesterday for the manslaughter of a 10-year-old boy who drowned while on a school trip.

Paul Ellis, 42, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Max Palmer on May 26 last year at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court yesterday.

Max was swept to his death in a river with a party of pupils from Fleetwood High School, Lancashire, where his mother Patricia, who was also on the trip, was an educational assistant.

Ellis was taking a group from Fleetwood High School on an adventure weekend to the Lake District.

The weather that weekend was poor, with rain and low temperatures which had “curtailed much of the planned activity”.

Ellis was keen to do some form of activity to prevent a “complete washout”, said Alistair Webster, prosecuting.

Ellis wanted the party jump into a pool from a height.

A 13-year-old pupil jumped first and found it so cold he struggled to move, the court heard. Max followed and was immediately seen to be in difficulty.

Ellis jumped into the water to try and rescue the boy but he was unable to help due to the extreme cold.

Mrs Palmer then jumped into the pool to attempt to rescue her son.

She grabbed Max and managed to hold his head above water but found the current too strong to swim with him.

Mr Webster said: “But she managed to bring him to the side of the pool and rested Max on her knee, keeping him above the water.”

Max then said to her: “We are not going to die mummy are we? Don’t let me die.”

Max’s body then slipped out of her grasp and back into the water from where he was pulled out of the pond and attempts made to resuscitate him.

In mitigation, defence barrister Patrick Cosgrove said Ellis showed courage in his failed attempts to rescue Max.