Stockport Council has announced that five members of staff have been suspended over the death of a schoolboy, who was left in a school corridor while suffering an asthma attack.

The Press Association reports that a jury sitting during a three-week inquest at Stockport Coroner's Court ruled that 11-year-old Sam Linton died after neglect at Offerton High School in Stockport 'significantly contributed' to his death.

Sam died in hospital on 4 December 2007, after he had been made to sit in a school corridor while struggling to breathe during an asthma attack. Staff at the school failed to call an ambulance for him – and by the time his mother was called to the school, his lips were turning blue. The inquest was told that valuable time had been lost by making Sam wait for emergency treatment.

Last week, the inquest jury ruled that Sam's death was ‘by natural causes’, but had been ‘significantly contributed to’ by neglect on an ‘individual and systemic level’.

A spokesman for Stockport Council said that the staff suspensions at Offerton High School had been made while an internal inquiry was being carried out. He declined to name the staff involved, however.

Sam’s father, Paul Linton, described the council's move as a ‘knee-jerk reaction’ and ‘too little, too late’.

Sam’s parents are calling for better implementation of first aid procedures at the school.

A statement by Stockport Council said:

‘In the light of the detailed evidence presented to the inquest – and the verdict reached by the jury – Offerton School, with the assistance of the council, has decided to carry out an inquiry into the actions of a number of staff.

‘Five members of staff have been suspended, without prejudice, pending the outcome of the inquiry.

‘While it has been some time since Sam's death, there has not been a period of inactivity.

‘Immediately following Sam's death, the governing body reviewed the handling of pupils' medical needs relating to asthma and other medical conditions – and has adapted systems and practices at the school.’

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