The North Shields coroner heard how Lesley Clark, 47, of Gateshead, died after being washed away together with three other members of Hexham Sub-Aqua Club, on the causeway at St Mary's lighthouse in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside.
One of the divers, Judy Cormack, told the hearing that initially the waves were small, but that as the group waded out the water got deeper and she became concerned about the current tugging at their feet.
Soon afterwards, Clark was the first to be washed off her feet. Cormack admitted to the hearing that she and Clark had not performed safety checks on each other, and that she realised Clark's air was not turned on. She went over to Clark to turn on her supply knob, but said it failed to work.
'I was trying to maintain buoyancy for both of us,' she told the hearing. 'We were both in very serious trouble by now. I believed I was in danger of drowning. I had to let go of Lesley for fear of pushing her under. I did not see her again.'
The other, less-experienced diving pair, brother and sister Anthony Chapman and Karen Patterson, were also washed off their feet after seeing Clark and Cormack whisked away by the tide.
They drifted in a different direction from the others. Patterson told the inquest that her brother asked her to turn on his air and had managed to inflate his BC before being swept into the sea.
It is not clear from reports whether or not Patterson had an air supply when she became the last to be washed off the causeway. 'I was fighting for my own survival,' she said.
She, Cormack and Chapman were recovered safely by the rescue services. But Clark, the last to be located and brought ashore, died later in hospital.
PC Michael Catlin, of the Police Marine Unit, told the inquest that Clark's diving equipment was old, and thatb her BC was in poor condition. His view was that 'several contributory factors' could be relevant to her death.
But the most crucial element was likely to have been that buddy checks were not carried out before the divers left the shoreline, he said. This would have revealed any problem with Clark's air supply and/or BC inflation system.
Coroner Eric Armstrong said that the need for equipment tests should be 'stressed more' to divers. He recorded a verdict of accidental death.
Related links
Diver swept fatally from shore
Tyneside accident diver named |
