IIn the case of 13-year-old diabetic Emily, who died of hyperglycemia on a school trip to London in the summer of 2019, the Mönchengladbach regional court sentenced two teachers on Thursday to fines of 23,400 and 7,200 euros for negligent homicide by omission.
The chamber is convinced that the 60 and 34-year-old companions of the cross-year trip to a Mönchengladbach school had not sufficiently informed themselves in advance about the students' health. Shortly before, the defense had rejected this again in its plea and called for the acquittal of the two teachers.
The teachers didn't know Emily from class
However, with the verdict and also with the fines imposed, the court largely followed the public prosecutor's office. Accordingly, as part of their duty of care and supervision, the officials should have asked all participating students about previous illnesses before the trip. Since this wasn't done and they themselves didn't know Emily from class, the teachers didn't know that the girl had been type 1 diabetic for several years at that point and had to regularly inject insulin.
According to the investigators, neither Emily nor her mother informed the teachers about the diabetes, although it was noted in the school file. After initial hesitation, the now convicted teachers had extensively admitted in the trial that they had not asked in writing about the students' health problems before the trip. The presiding judge viewed the statements as an admission of a breach of duty of care. However, the fact that they asked verbally about possible previous illnesses at an information evening before the trip and thus “did something that went in the right direction” had a positive effect on the sentence, said the judge at the beginning of February.
The complex case has preoccupied the judiciary for a long time. The fact that the trial took place was due to the persistence of Emily's father. Initially, he managed to get the discontinued investigations reopened. When the Mönchengladbach regional court refused to open the main hearing in February 2023, he filed an appeal. In June, the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court admitted the charges.
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