About four years ago, 13-year-old Emily from Mönchengladbach died on a school trip to London. Now there will still be a lawsuit against two of her teachers, the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court (OLG) has decided. Unlike the district court in Mönchengladbach, the OLG approved the charges. Prosecutors have charged the two teachers with manslaughter by negligence.
Emily was type 1 diabetic. According to the indictment, the teachers should not have informed themselves sufficiently about the diabetes of the student. They are also accused of not recognizing symptoms of acute hyperglycaemia in time and, as a result, having arranged for medical treatment too late.
Shortly after arriving in London, according to statements from her friends and classmates at the time, the girl was said to have had a bad time. She often vomited and was disoriented. The friends of the same age had repeatedly informed the teachers who were traveling with them, saying that they didn’t look at Emily at all and then only looked fleetingly. According to the investigation file that SZ a year ago, they even left the sick girl alone in the hotel with two friends of the same age for a whole day.
What did the teachers know about Emily’s diabetes?
Only on the day of departure does a teacher call the emergency doctor. Emily has a blood sugar level of 1470, the normal value after a meal is below 140. The girl is resuscitated in the hotel, but dies days later of a heart attack.
Since then, Emily’s father has been fighting for the prosecution. The district court in Mönchengladbach had rejected this in February 2023. The view of the district court at the time: Even if the teachers had known about the diabetes, as medical laypeople, they could not have known that the student had to go to the hospital. So it would not matter whether they had informed themselves sufficiently about the previous illness.
The Higher Regional Court judged the legal issues differently: the accused should have played it safe and asked all students about previous illnesses in writing. Apparently, the teachers only did it verbally at an information event. That’s not enough. If they had informed themselves better, they might have recognized the need for action more quickly and the death could have been prevented. It is still unclear when the process will begin.