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File image of Newry Courthouse where the trial is taking place. Alamy

Expert says three lifeguards 'waited too long' to begin rescuing man who died in Newry pool

A solicitor for one of the men on trial today argued that the lifeguards had not been properly trained to deal with the type of incident unfolding in front of them.

THREE LIFEGUARDS ON trial for breaching their duty of care “waited too long” to initiate a rescue and missed the signs that an “accomplished swimmer” had lost consciousness under water, a top safety expert told a jury today.

Dr Daniel Jacklin told the jury in Newry Crown Court that he had found multiple faults and failings which lead to the tragic death of Christopher Rogers, a 20-year-old athlete, at the Orchard Leisure Centre on 7 April 2017.

He said these faults included a prolonged handover between lifeguards, asking a member of the public to check on the man and waiting too long to initiate a rescue attempt.

The jury have previously heard that Rogers seemingly gave a “thumbs up” to another swimmer in the pool.

Jacklin today suggested that sadly, the 20-year-old “had already lost consciousness” at that point, and had suffered a cardiac arrest.

The “thumbs up” sign, he told the court, was in keeping with Rogers experiencing “decerebrate posturing” where his hands and limbs had “curled up” and that that had been misinterpreted.

Citing the lifeguard mantra of “if in doubt get them out”, Jacklin told prosecuting KC Liam McCollum: “It should not be left to members of the public to check people in the pool.”

“If it has got to that point you are now passed the point where you should have initiated a rescue and it is at that point that you should be entering the water having recognised that you have waited too long before arriving at that conclusion,” he said.

On trial each facing a single count that being employee, they were in breach their duty to others on 7 April 2017 in that they “failed to take reasonable care for the health and safety of other persons who may be affected by your acts or omissions at work” are: Cathal Forrest-McVeigh (35), from Dunamony Road in Dungannon; William Holden (26), from Unshinagh Lane in Portadown; and James Monaghan (26), from Folly Lane in Armagh.

Since the trial began last week the jury of four men and eight women have heard how Rogers, an accomplished and prolific swimmer, had swam two and a half lengths of the pool when he broke the surface and sank to the bottom where he remained outstretched and on his back for five minutes and 14 seconds.

The jury have also heard that during that time, the lifeguards were aware of Rogers and had been observing him, that McVeigh and Monaghan were engaged in conversation for two minutes and twenty seconds and that before they attempted a rescue, McVeigh had banged on the steps with a pole and had asked another swimmer to check on him.

Jacklin, a leading expert in the field of pool safety and who has a consultancy role with the Royal Life Saving Society who provide and print the syllabus for lifeguard training courses, said he believed that when Rogers broke the surface of the water he had already suffered a heart attack brought on by a lack of oxygen.

Outlining a number of faults in how the three defendants approached the situation that night, he told the jury the handover from Monaghan to McVeigh should only have taken around 20 seconds, not more than the two minutes, and as a result, they were not giving full concentration to the people in the pool.

Holden had been in the high chair, the jury have heard, and he remained there for most of the duration of the incident, but he did come out of the chair and stood beside it for a time. Jacklin said that, in his view, “he should not have done that”.

Instead, Holden ought to have remained in the chair where he would have had a better view of what was happening in the pool, Jacklin said, and that it should not have been left up to another swimmer to check on Rogers at the time.

He added that the signs of Rogers’ distress ought to have been seen earlier and a rescue initiated.

Under cross examination from Gavan Duffy KC, senior defence counsel for McVeigh, Jacklin conceded that at the time, in 2017, there was “absolutely no mention” of hypoxic blackout, shallow water blackout or anything about decerebrate posturing in the RLSS training manuals.

“The importance of all that is that if they’re to stand and watch, they need to know what signs to look out for,” Duffy suggested.

Jacklin said: “I think everybody would agree that they need to know the signs otherwise they are not going to be able to detect” that they need to act.

He conceded that he had found faults and failings in how the Orchard Leisure Centre kept records relating to lifeguard training and induction and had “failed to properly risk assess and subsequently train lifeguards to recognise hypoxic blackout”.

In conceding the cross examination, Duffy suggested to Jacklin that there had been no proper risk assessment in relation to the type of activity his client was undertaking and that the criticism he gave were of the training provided to the lifeguards.

He added that it was “very clear” that the lifeguards present had identified Rogers and had him under observation for the majority of the time. “But clearly the failed to have sufficient understand of what was happened to recognise that he was in danger,” the lawyer said.

Jackline agreed to each suggestion and statement made by Duffy. 

The trial continues.

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