Seven years after the death of little Laly, defenestrated by one of her comrades, justice recognized, on Tuesday, the responsibility of the teacher. She was given a 4-month suspended prison sentence for “manslaughter”.
This Tuesday, May 3, 2022, Elisabeth Jaccard, a teacher, was given a 4-month suspended prison sentence for “manslaughter”, after one of her students was thrown out of the window by one of her classmates. The facts took place on January 8, 2015, in the private school of Sacré-Coeur in Périgueux, a general education establishment which welcomes, in a specialized class, children with psychomotor disabilities and/or mental disorders. behavior.
Laly, the young victim, was 8 years old and suffering from trisomy 21. At the time of the tragedy, the little girl had just finished her work and had left the classroom to join the adjoining playroom where another of her classmates was, leaving the two children far from the eyes of the teacher. Little Laly was then pushed out the window by his classmate, considered “psychotic”, and fell more than 5 meters. She died of her injuries.
“An unmanageable child”
In its judgment, the Bordeaux Court of Appeal did not question the teacher’s right to practice, but the lack of supervision at the time of the tragedy is “a serious fault”.
“I couldn’t see the children in the next room. It haunts me”had declared the teacher and director of the school Elisabeth Jaccard before bursting into tears, affirming “heard nothing” while she supervised the work of the other students. The school assistant, who worked alongside him, had gone to lunch.
For Céline Raignault, General Counsel, Director ‘could not ignore that the little boy needed increased supervision’. In effect, Elisabeth Jaccard had indicated that the child was becoming “truly unmanageable”he had, moreover, already beaten the little girl on the stairs of the school for the reason “that she was shorter than him”. Several instructions had been given to watch the little boy closely and a meeting had been planned to propose his transfer to a medical-educational establishment.
Other previous facts
According to Me Lionel Béthune de Moro, lawyer for Elisabeth Jaccard, the teacher is not “solely responsible for the death of the young Laly”. Indeed, the social services registered the boy in this school “without sharing with Mrs. Jaccard all the information they had” : in 2013, the young boy had already pushed another girl from the balcony of a house, injuring her slightly. Crucial information for the director who affirms that “If she had been informed, she would have refused to register it”.
For the lawyer for the Laly family, Me Pierre-Daniel Lamazière, the conviction of the professor “can bring a little serenity to the family, recognizing their suffering and their feeling of great injustice”. The Court of Appeal also ordered the State to compensate the girl’s family for 130,000 euros in damages.