The director and teacher of a school in Leiria have been charged by the Ministry of State (MP) with manslaughter following the death of 15-year-old student David Santos when a gate fell.
The situation arose on May 25, 2021 at the Colégio Conciliar de Maria Imaculada during a 9th grade physical education lesson that took place on a synthetic turf football field.
During the lesson, which began at 3:45 p.m., the physical education teacher “divided the class into six groups,” two of which were handball groups, according to the March 21 indictment, which Lusa had access to this Friday.
“The space where handball practice took place was divided into two parts, with handball goals installed in each of them and on the top lines, which allowed each group in the part of the space they occupied to carry out activities. near the corresponding target,” the order explains.
At 4:50 p.m., one of the groups “was playing handball next to one of these goals,” says the deputy, specifying that in this case, “one of the students was positioned at the goal instead of the goalkeeper, and the other three exchanged the ball among themselves so that they could shoot, until they score a goal.”
“It was at this moment, and also because they had just scored a goal, that they changed goalkeepers, beginning (…) to occupy the goal,” the order says, describing that after this change the victim “directed his run towards the goal” and “hanging on the top post.”
Immediately, the student was “projected forward with the target falling face down on the ground, and the target fell on top of him, hitting him in the head area.”
Despite being “immediately given first aid by the intervention” of a teacher and “emergency services activated”, the student died at 17:44 in Leiria Hospital.
“Sports equipment must be kept during the entire period of use in conditions that exclude the possibility of falling,” the deputy believes, considering that “hanging and swinging on the top crossbar of a handball goal are fairly predictable positions that defendants must perform.” made sure that the target did not fall.”
In the indictment, the deputy notes that the school’s administrative director “was the person responsible for the sports equipment” and “as such was required to ensure that all safety requirements were met when using the gate.”
“The lack of fastening of handball goals to the ground, installed on the school’s sports ground for use by students during classes, corresponds to a violation of the rules of a technical and reasonable nature, which the director must ensure,” states the MP. , emphasizing that since such fixation is technically impossible, “a counterweight system had to be guaranteed to guarantee the stability of the gate.”
In addition, according to the deputy, the school at that time did not have “the operating instructions that should be included with the removable gates” that were supplied by the equipment supplier.
As for the teacher, “he was responsible for the correct and careful use of the material used in the lesson,” and that day, at the beginning of the lesson, “when using “replaceable” markers (…) he did not organize the placement of counterweights for them.”
According to the lawmaker, who wants the case heard in one court, the defendants had to “ensure that the purpose is properly fixed or supported and is stable” to avoid the fall, holding that the facts reflect a “clear failure to achieve the purpose.” duties” of both, which led to the death of the student.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.