MLA who lost son to drowning says his thoughts go out to family at the centre of 'lifeguards' court case
MLA William Irwin has said his thoughts go out to the family of the young drowning victim who was at the centre of a major court case which concluded this week.
Mr Irwin said the case brought back tragic memories for him because his son too had drowned in a swimming pool.
The court case involved three lifeguards who were facing charges over the death in 2017 of 20-year-old Christopher Rogers in the pool at Orchard Leisure Centre in Armagh city.
The trio had been on duty at the time Mr Rogers blacked out while swimming and sank to the bottom of the pool, where he remained for over five minutes before efforts were made to rescue him.
Newry Crown Court had heard that Mr Rogers was a regular and accomplished swimmer who was in the habit of going underwater and holding his breath for long periods of time.
The three men on trial (Cathal Forrest-McVeigh, 35, of Dunamony Road in Dungannon, William Holden, 26, from Unshinagh Lane in Portadown, and James Monaghan, 26, from Folly Lane in Armagh) were each charged with breaching their duty of care to Mr Rogers by failing to act sooner.
A jury unanimously acquitted all three of them on Tuesday.
Speaking to the News Letter, DUP MLA for Newry and Armagh Mr Irwin told the News Letter his own son, Philip, had drowned in a pool in Portadown in 1997. He was aged 15.
"You never totally get over the loss of a child," he said.
"It brings it back to me too whenever you see that.
"My thoughts are with the family of the young man who lost his life. It's tragic for the family. I know something of what the family is going through, the loss.
"It's something you never expect to happen. You expect pools to be safe places."
He said Portadown pool was 13ft deep and his son "was down the bottom; he went down, and no-one had noticed until it was too late".
Mr Irwin said his message to the family of Mr Rogers would be: "I understand what the family has had to go through with the loss of their son.
"It's a difficult place to be and for many it's something they'll live with the rest of their lives."
In his own case, his Christian faith helped sustain him after the death, and Mr Irwin added that "we've a strong faith that we'll meet him again someday".
The News Letter asked the solicitors of the three acquitted men if they wished to make a statement, but none had done so at time of writing.