Jessica Lawson's grieving family 'stand united' after teachers are found not guilty

Paying tribute to her daughter, Brenda Lawson said the 12-year-old was “my baby girl”, adding: “No court in any land can take that away from me.”

Her daughter, who attended Wolfreton School near Hull, had been swimming in a lake near Limoges in July 2015 when a plastic pontoon overturned.

At the Palais de Justice in the French town of Tulle on Wednesday, teachers Steven Layne, Chantelle Lewis and Daisy Stathers were all cleared of any wrongdoing.

The lifeguard on duty at the time, Leo Lemaire, and the local authority in the town of Liginiac were also found not guilty.

On Facebook, Ms Lawson wrote: “We, as a family stand proud and remain united.

“A closeness borne from our tragedy. A closeness that continues to gain its strength from our guiding light.

“Her name is and continues to be Jessica Lawson.”

She added: “Over the past two days the world media has ‘said her name’. And, that for our family is ok.

“Unconditional love is a powerful thing. Immeasurable.

“I am Brenda Lawson, I am Jessica’s mum. She is my baby girl. No court in any land can take that away from me.”

In her judgment, the head of jurisdiction in Tulle, Marie-Sophie Waguette, said the three teachers had not “at any moment failed to comply with their requirement to monitor the activity”.

Ms Waguette told the court there was “no evidence to show that they were negligent”.

The trial heard how Ms Lewis “started to panic” during the incident and “asked ‘where’s Jess’?’”

Her colleague, Ms Stathers, said she also became “increasingly panicked” after realising Jessica was missing, adding: “But there were 23 other students we were trying to get out (of the water) so I was trying to stay calm.”

The teacher who was in charge of the trip, Mr Layne, told the court he thought the pontoon was a safety feature.

Mr Layne was quizzed about Jessica’s death and said there was not “any sort of distress” from students or the lifeguard during the incident.