Six-year-old boy drowned during school hours – teacher faces jail time

On the second day of school after the summer holidays, the boy drowned in his PE lesson. The incident occurred at a swimming pool in Falsterbo, Vellinge municipality in the autumn of 2020 and now the principal and three teachers are being tried in Malmö District Court.

'Caused his death'

Prosecutor Klas Norelius has brought charges for work environment crimes and secondarily for causing the death of another. He points out, among other things, that there were 40 children at the pool, several of whom were not swimmer, and that the educators had too poor supervision.

"They have negligently caused his death," Klas Norelius said in his case.

Present in the courtroom was the boy's mother – who had been waiting a long time for a trial.

"It's hard to be here, but it's a huge relief that there was a trial," says her mother, Farah Albashoor.

Denying a crime

The principal and teachers deny any wrongdoing. Several of them believe that it is instead the municipality that is responsible.

"A lot of shortcomings have emerged when it comes to work environment management. My view is that it is primarily organizational, it is the municipality in the first place and in the second place the principal is responsible for those shortcomings, says Isak Åberg, lawyer for one of the teachers.

Lawyer Jessica Stålhammar believes that her client did what she could – based on the conditions.

"She was new and hadn't had a handover. She has followed the written rules that existed. We know today that they were flawed but what else would she have done?

If the teachers and the principal are convicted in court, they risk being sentenced to prison for work environment violations. According to the indictment, the municipality of Vellinge also risks a company fine of 3 million.

The chairman of the municipal board, Carina Wutzler (M), writes in an email to SVT Nyheter Skåne that:

"Given the tragic event behind it, I refrain from commenting on the fine or the size of the amount. Terribly sad and sad event where a boy lost his life and many people have been affected and affected."