Evening Times - June 02, 2009
Man, 20, drowns in loch tragedy
By Deborah Anderson and Caroline Wilson
A 20-YEAR-OLD man has drowned after getting into difficulty in a loch on the outskirts of Glasgow.
The tragedy happened as the country enjoyed another day of glorious weather.
Emergency services launched a search at around 5.15pm yesterday after a caller told them that a man had entered the water at Hogganfield Loch in the north of the city and was out of sight.
He is believed to have become tangled in reeds and was unable to resurface.
The man was spotted by the police helicopter at around 6pm and removed from the loch, which is large and shallow with a wooded island, by Strathclyde Fire and Rescue.
An ambulance took him to Glasgow Royal Infirmary where he was pronounced dead.
The victim was named today as Barry McCourt, from Pollok.
Police said their investigations into his death were continuing.
The area was busy with people making the most of the weather. It is normally popular with walkers and joggers and is a haven for wildlife.
It is thought the man went in near a sandy area where the water can get deep very quickly.
It came almost 24 hours after a similar tragedy which claimed the life of a 13-year-old in the Borders.
And today sun seekers were warned to keep out of Glasgow's rivers after a spate of incidents over the weekend.
Police advised people not to play or swim in or around open water where there are no lifeguards present.
They said that many lochs and rivers have strong currents and swimmers may find themselves in great danger.
In 2002, a thief drowned as he tried to flee from police after a robbery at a petrol filling station in Glasgow.
Police recovered the body of a 34-year-old Royston man from Hogganfield Loch after the robbery in Cumbernauld Road.
The man had held up an attendant at knifepoint before escaping with a few hundred pounds.
He was unaware staff had pressed the station's attack alarm which had alerted police.
It is believed he panicked when he spotted a police car and sprinted towards Hogganfield Loch.
He plunged into the water and attempted to swim to the far side. However, he got stuck in mud.
Two police officers threw a lifebelt towards him but he could not grasp it and disappeared under the surface only a short distance from the side of the loch.
Officers from Strathclyde Police underwater unit recovered his body.
Last night's tragedy came as the heartbroken parents of a schoolboy who drowned in a river on Sunday told how they warned him to avoid the notorious stretch of water.
Martin Moriarty, 13, was pulled to his death by strong undercurrents on Sunday night as he cooled off in the River Tweed near Kelso with friends.
Although the teenager entered a relatively calm area of the river around 6.30pm, he moved further downstream into an area called the Junction Pool, or The Cobby, where the Tweed joins the River Teviot.
Its deep pools and fierce undercurrents have caused accidents in the past, according to locals, and Martin was pulled under the surface of the water, despite being a strong swimmer.
His body was recovered by divers at 7.50pm on Sunday.
As temperatures soared the temptation to cool off in the River Clyde proved too much for many over the weekend, leading to a surge in call-outs for the Glasgow Humane Society.
In Glasgow Green, two youths under the influence of alcohol refused to get out of the water and tried to sink the boat of river rescue officer George Parsonage.
Mr Parsonage, who is credited with saving 1500 people from drowning over the past 25 years, was then subjected to a torrent of verbal abuse from one of the men.
In another incident on Saturday, two youths were cautioned after being spotted on the river in a child's dingy, using tennis rackets as paddles.
Safety officers were also forced to take action on Sunday after a gang of youths set off a fire hydrant south of the river, then threatened to jump off St Andrew's Bridge.
Mr Parsonage said: "Unfortunately when the weather heats up people take risks.
"Warm weather and alcohol can be a lethal combination.
"We had an incident where two men, obviously under the alcohol, had gone into the water and when I tried to persuade them to get out they tried to sink my boat and became very abusive - it was the worst verbal abuse I've experienced.
"Glasgow has some of the best swimming pools; it's just not worth taking risks."
Mr Parsonage has led calls for improved water safety at city parks after an Evening Times investigation showed many failed to offer basic safety measures such as life belts.
He is also calling for a change in planning laws which would make it mandatory for new businesses along the Clyde to provide throw ropes and train staff in rescue techniques.
Just weeks ago an Evening Times investigation showed many of Glasgow's green spaces are failing to provide basic water safety measures such as life belts, protective fencing and warning signs.