Courts

Lifeguard trial: ‘Thumbs up’ sign misinterpreted as drowned swimmer’s hands had ‘curled up’, court hears

Christopher Rogers remained outstretched at the bottom of the pool for five minutes and 14 seconds

Dr Daniel Jacklin told the jury he had found multiple faults and failings which lead to the tragic death of Christopher Rogers including a prolonged handover between lifeguards, asking a member of the public to check on the 20-year-old athlete and waiting too long to initiate a rescue attempt.
Dr Daniel Jacklin told the jury he had found multiple faults and failings which lead to the tragic death of Christopher Rogers including a prolonged handover between lifeguards, asking a member of the public to check on the 20-year-old athlete and waiting too long to initiate a rescue attempt.
Paul Higgins
Tue Jan 14 2025 - 19:20

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 water safety expert told a jury on Tuesday.

Dr Daniel Jacklin told the jury he had found multiple faults and failings which lead to the death of Christopher Rogers including a prolonged handover between lifeguards, asking a member of the public to check on the 20-year-old athlete and waiting too long to initiate a rescue attempt.

While the Newry Crown Court jury have heard how Mr Rogers seemingly gave a “thumbs up” sign to another swimmer in the Orchard Leisure Centre pool, a message which was then conveyed to the three defendants, Dr Jacklin said the 20-year-old “had already lost consciousness” and had suffered a cardiac arrest under the water.

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

READ SOME MORE

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

[ ‘Athletic’ man who died in leisure centre pool was himself a lifeguard, jury hears ]

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 are each facing a single count that being employee, they were in breach their duty to others on April 7th, 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”.

Since the trial began last week, the jury have heard how Mr Rogers, an accomplished 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 Mr Rogers and had been observing him, that Mr McVeigh and Mr Monaghan were engaged in conversation for two minutes and 20 seconds and that before they attempted a rescue, Mr McVeigh had banged on the steps with a pole and had asked another swimmer to check on him, that swimmer believing that he got a “thumbs up” sign from Mr Rogers.

On Tuesday Dr Jacklin, who has a consultancy role with the Royal Life Saving Society, said he believed that when Mr 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, he told the jury the handover from Mr Monaghan to Mr McVeigh should only have taken about 20 seconds.

Dr Jacklin was also of the view that Mr Holden should have remained in the high chair, where he would have a better view of what was happening in the pool.

Dr Jacklin said it also should not have been left to the other swimmer to check on Mr Rogers and that the signs of his distress ought to have been seen earlier and a rescue initiated.

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

He also 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.”

The trial continues.