HINCKLEY, Leicestershire UK (27 May 2005) -- An experienced scuba diver who was just one step away from becoming an instructor has died in an accident at a specialist centre. Mark Ridout, 42, of Newark, was diving with brothers Craig and Stuart Goldby when they got into difficulties. Craig, 36, a father of two from Grimsby, also died at Stoney Cove Diving Centre, near Hinckley, Leicestershire. Stuart returned to the surface after the 30-metre dive but realised the others were in trouble and raised the alarm. Mr Ridout leaves his partner of 16 years Lesley Lanham, daughter Laura, 12 - who used to dive with him - and stepchildren Adie and Emma Lanham. Today, Ms Lanham said: "He was just a lovely man, always happy and never down. He used to make you laugh with his silly antics and bad jokes. "He loved his home and his family. All he ever spoke about was diving and marine life. We were very happy." She added: "All they think at the minute is that it was a freak accident. We'll never know what happened because we weren't there. I can't take it in. Now Lesley has banned Laura from diving until she is old enough to choose to do it herself. Stuart today told how they tried to resurface from 30 metres down: "We all went down together and only I came up. "We were all holding hands and we could see each other clearly. "We hand-signalled to go up. I came up 20 metres. I was low on oxygen and expected them to be on the surface when I got out." The pair were brought to the surface by rescue divers. Paramedics were waiting but they were pronounced dead at Leicester Royal Infirmary. Mark had completed more than 200 dives at Stoney Cove, diving there at least once a week. Management at Stoney Cove, which is understood to be the UK's busiest inland scuba centre, offered their condolences to the families and said fellow divers were desperately trying to understand what went wrong. A statement said: "Soon after the start of the dive, one diver came to the surface having got separated from his two buddies. "A little while later two other divers raised the alarm that they had found two divers in difficulty at the bottom. "We feel upset and desperately sad for their families." | | Stoney Cove is an old quarry which is run by Stoney Cove Marine Trials, a company that was found guilty of negligence in the October 2000 death of Paul Gallacher and ordered to pay a total of £47,500. Gallacher was participating in an IANTD technical scuba diving course when he died. Rescue divers brought Mr Ridout and Mr Goldby, a father of two, to the surface where attempts were made to resuscitate them. The men were not under instruction at the time. Margaret Baldwin, spokeswoman for the Stoney Cove Marine Trials dive centre, said they had 60,000 visitors a year and added: "It's a risky sport. Like any other sport with an element of risk there are procedures and training pro grammes and if you stay within those you are going to be fine. "Naturally when you have had a serious incident you do review what you are doing. "Things are constantly developing and changing but at the moment we can't see anything we want to change." Leicestershire Police said officers were compiling a file for the county coroner for an inquest to be opened. SOURCE - This is NottinghamSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba ForumCDNN Related NewsUK - Woman fighting for life after Stoney Cove scuba diving accidentUK - Probe launched into Stoney Cove scuba diving deathUK - Stoney Cove Marine Trials fined for negligence after scuba diving deathUK - Stoney Cove Marine Trials admits breaking law in diver death |
