THE MOTHER of a 10-year-old boy who drowned during a school field trip has spoken of her "relief" after a Fylde teacher was given year-long jail sentence for his manslaughter.

Patricia Palmer, 38, of Harbour Way in Fleetwood, tried in vain to save her son, Max, after he got swept into a beck during a trip to the Lake District on May 26, 2002.

The mother and son had been attending adventure weekend along with 14 other children from Fleetwood High School, where Mrs Palmer worked as an educational support worker.

Tragedy struck after the group were led by geography teacher, Paul Ellis, 42 , on an early morning excursion to a "plunge pool" at Glenridding Village near Ullswater, despite warnings that conditions were too dangerous.

Max was trying to follow older children plunging from nearby rocks into the pool when he was overcome.

Ellis, a father-of-three, jumped into the pool to the save the boy but ended up needing to be rescued by another teacher, Kenneth Jowett, leaving Patricia to dive into the icy water after her son alone.

In a heartbreaking final moment together Max frantically asked her "We are not going to die are we mummy? Don't let me die."

Moments later the pair were separated by swelling tides. Max's lifeless body was later discovered further downstream by members of the Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team.

Earlier this week Ellis, of Norbreck Road, Thornton, began a 12 month prison sentence after pleading guilty to causing Max's death and endangering the lives of other children during a trial at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester on Tuesday, September 23.

Patricia -- who also has an 18-year-old son, Nick -- says she and husband, Mark, feel: "a huge sense of relief" that the trial is over but added "this is not a case where justice can be done".

The couple are now calling for a reform of safety procedure surrounding school trips in a bid to avoid the tragedy repeating itself.

Patricia said: "Max's death has devastated our family and we are still struggling to come to terms with our loss.

"But it really doesn't matter to us if Paul Ellis gets 12 months or a hundred years in prison.

"A longer or shorter sentence will not bring Max back to us and we just feel a huge sense of relief that the hurdle of the trial is over.

"We've never been interested in getting some sort of justice for Max because, to our minds, this is not a case where 'justice' can be done.

"It's about people being held accountable for what happened and about sending a message to schools that this has not got to happen again.

"We don't want to see school trips cancelled altogether. That is the last thing in the world that we want. But children and young people should be taken away from a safe school environment and put at unnecessary risk of potential danger. A number of measures have already been put in place since Max died which, hopefully, have made the situation much better. But there still needs to be a complete reform of the system and attitudes towards school trips. And it's just very sad that a little boy had to die before we could realise that there is a problem here.

"We're now going to try and get on with life together as a family. I hope to be able to get back to work soon, although it is highly unlikely that will be at Fleetwood High School.

"Events during the last year have just been taken completely out of our hands but hopefully now we'll be able to put this behind us and adjust to life without Max."

A Health and Safety Executive investigation is continuing.