a ski lift operator and his employer have been charged with involuntary manslaughter over the death of a british teenager after a school trip to the french alps kieran brookes, 14, was strangled when the straps of his backpack became entangled as he tried to get off a ski lift in the alpine resort of chatel in february 2011 richard cettour, 50, of bonnevaux, france, who was supervising the lift at the time of the tragedy, and operator saem sports et tourisme a chatel, will face a criminal trial in october accused of a series of serious health and safety breaches kieran brookes (pictured), was strangled when the straps of his backpack became entangled as he tried to get off a ski lift  the 14 year old was on a school skiing trip in the alpine resort of chatel (pictured) in february 2011 kieran's parents, nick and cindy brookes, have said they want to establish the sequence of events that led to his death so no other family will suffer a similar tragedy they hope the trial will provide answers to lingering questions surrounding their son's death mr brookes, 50, an nhs manager from bovey tracey, devon, said: 'all this time after kieran's death we are still not sure of exactly what happened 'not knowing the events which led to his death is something which holds back the healing process 'we have some information about what went so dreadfully wrong but not all the details we have a jigsaw but with some of the pieces missing 'we're hoping that through the trial in france we will soon get those questions answered' lawyers representing saem sports et tourisme a chatel confirmed the firm and cettour will face trial this year kieran (pictured) was one of the brightest maths prospects in the country after scoring 96 per cent in a national test he was on a six seat ski lift when the tragedy struck  they are accused of failing to enforce a rule banning skiers from boarding the lift while wearing backpacks, not carrying out daily checks on equipment and not ensuring a safety device which could stop the lift was properly installed cettour is also accused of a number of failings, including not being at his post at the time of the accident and not reacting to other skiers' calls to hit the emergency stop kieran, a pupil at torquay boys' grammar school, who was one of the brightest maths prospects in the country after scoring 96 per cent in a national test, was on a six seat ski lift when the tragedy struck it is believed his backpack got stuck on the lift chair as he tried to climb off at the top of the slope kieran was suspended by his clothing for around four minutes before he was released, according to witnesses first aiders battled for eight minutes to revive him before he was taken to hospital in annecy with a severe brain injury he was transferred to the royal devon and exeter hospital intensive care unit where he died nearly a month later on march 17, 2011 mr brookes said: 'it feels so very fresh because we are still going over the events in our mind nick and cindy brookes, the parents of kieran (pictured), have said they want to establish the sequence of events that led to his death so no other family will suffer a similar tragedy  'i think it is natural as parents to ask the questions: could more have been done to save kieran, did he suffer, what went wrong and what can be done to prevent this from ever happening to another family? 'it is like we have an open wound that we cannot close because we don't have the resources at our disposal 'the hole in our life left by kieran will always be there   all the future we would have had together is missing 'it's so difficult not being able yet to point at something positive to come from this tragedy   some safety improvements that we can say were made as a result of what we learned from kieran's death 'hopefully, the trial will help us understand' mrs brookes, 52, also an nhs manager, said: 'he was academically bright but also loved to be physically active and was a member of the army cadets 'kieran dreamed of becoming a doctor and helping people he wanted to be a gp we couldn't bury kieran for six months because of the police investigation 'we also couldn't donate his organs which was something that would have given us some comfort the comfort that we're looking for now is that we can say that something good came of this, that lessons have been learnt from this which will make things safer' the family's lawyer mark montaldo, of slater and gordon, said: 'the french prosecutor has enough evidence to bring two charges of involuntary manslaughter in this case against the pilot of the ski lift and the company which employed him 'it has been devastating for kieran's family to lose a much loved son in these circumstances but they are determined that the full facts of what happened are revealed and any safety failings exposed so that no other family has to suffer a similar tragedy again' sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article
chatel alps a month later britain kieran brookes kieran exeter devon richard cettour 14 february 2011 french
kieran brookes was strangled by straps on backpack as he got off ski lift  he was on a school trip in chatel in the french alps in february 2011  lift supervisor richard cettour is charged with involuntary manslaughter  operator saem sports et tourisme a chatel is also facing a criminal trial  kieran, 14, from devon, was one of the brightest maths prospects in britain  medics battled to save him but he died a month later at a hospital in exeter 