OBAN, Scotland (30 Nov 2008) — A rookie diver drowned after her instructor weighed her down with rocks. Mum-of-two Lynn Herriot "sank like a stone" after the rocks were put in the pockets of her diving suit. Yesterday, her family revealed they are considering suing instructor Gordon Rankin and the sub aqua club Lynn, 41, was a member of. Her brother Colin, 51, said "We blame him for Lynn's death. Accidents happen but this was avoidable. "He put her in the wrong suit with the wrong weights and left her to drown while he saved himself." A fatal accident inquiry found that Lynn's death could have been prevented. It heard how she and sister Joyce, 52, wanted to learn to dive for a holiday and had joined the Midlothian branch of the Scottish Sub Aqua Club. But tragedy struck when they went on their first "try dive" in the sea at Gallanach Bay, near Oban, Argyll. The inquiry at Oban Sheriff Court heard how only carer Lynn, of Dalkeith, Midlothian, went through with the dive. Mr Rankin - a "master" diving instructor and national instructor - did a buoyancy check on eight-stone Lynn and found she was "far too light". He put two rocks, weighing 12.5lb, in her suit. With ankle weights and a harness, Lynn had about 20lb excess. The pair went out 65ft in water 13ft deep. Mr Rankin told the inquiry: "I got a fright because she started to sink feet-first, faster than I'd have expected." He got his weight belt off and rose to the surface without Lynn. He said: "There was no way I could go back down. I had lost my weights and was exhausted." Lynn's body was recovered later by another diver. The inquiry was told the suit given to Lynn was too big and had air trapped in it. Mr Rankin, of Eskbank, Midlothian, admitted he had not appointed a safety officer, dive marshal or an equipment officer for the trip last May. A risk assessment had not been carried out on the sisters. Sheriff Douglas Small said Lynn's death might have been avoided had she had proper training and if "appropriate precautions" had been taken. He added: "It seemed clear she was overweighted. "This problem became exacerbated because her suit was excessively large and, in all likelihood, there remained air trapped within it." Devastated Colin added: "Lynn never saw her twin grandchildren, who were born after her death. Joyce saw her sister vanish under the water. She is still devastated. "The family are to have a meeting to decide on suing Mr Rankin and the diving club. Mr Rankin was unavailable for comment yesterday. | 
