Parents of schoolboy who died in ski lift accident call for better safety
The parents of a British schoolboy died following an accident on a ski lift during a school trip have urged ski resorts to enforce safety rules to prevent another tragedy.
Kieran Brookes, 14, was strangled when the straps of his backpack became entangled as he tried to get off the lift in the French resort of Chatel in February 2011.
A court in France heard yesterday that Richard Cettour, who was supposed to be supervising the lift, was in his hut cleaning his tools at the time so he failed to spot the accident and respond immediately to other skiers’ calls to stop the lift.
As a result, Kieran was suspended by his clothes for around four minutes before he was released and suffered severe brain injury.
Cettour and the lift operator SAEM Sports et Tourisme à Chatel were accused of serious health and safety breaches at a criminal court in Thonon-Les-Bains in France, including failing the enforce a rule banning skiers from getting on to lifts wearing backpacks, not carrying out daily checks on equipment and not ensuring a safety device which could stop the lift was properly installed.
Kieran’s father Nick Brookes told the court: "More has to be done to stop such a thing ever happening again."
Calling for a one-year suspended sentence against Cettour and a €75,000 (£55,500) fine against his employer, Patrick Steinmetz, the prosecutor, said: "I am convinced that there was human error, inattention that lasted too long on the operator’s part. But he is not the only one responsible."
Mark Montaldo, the family’s lawyer of Slater and Gordon said: "This tragic case must serve as a wake-up call to all ski resorts to do everything within their power to ensure the highest safety standards and ensure that failings identified in Kieran’s death are never repeated. Short-cuts and failings can cost lives."
"This tragic case must serve as a wake-up call to all ski resorts… Short-cuts can cost lives."
The judges will give their ruling on November 17. A separate civil case against the company’s insurers will be heard in the UK.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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