WORTHING, UK — An off-duty police officer died while scuba diving in the English Channel. Authorities told CDNN that Detective Sergeant John Gilbert, 58, of the Metropolitan Police, aparently died from decompression sickness (the bends) after he ascended too rapidly off Worthing, West Sussex, on Saturday afternoon. The Coastguard airlifted Gilbert and his buddy diver to Worthing Hospital at about 11:40 am after the pair ascended too rapidly while diving off the Proteus, a 30-ft catamaran bought last year by the Metropolitan Police's Sub Aqua Club.. Authorities have not yet identified Gilbert's dive buddy who was released from hospital the day after the tragic scuba diving accident. Gilbert, who was 6ft and 3in tall, was known among his colleagues in the child abuse investigation unit as the "gentle giant". "He was a hard-working and highly professional member of Edgware child abuse investigation team," Detective Superintendent Reg Hooke told reporters. "John will be sadly missed by everyone who had the privilege of working alongside him - both within the Metropolitan Police Service and outside it." A police spokesman said the Metropolitan Police's Sub Aqua Club was established some 30 years ago and has about 80 members comprised of serving and retired officers who use the club's dive boat every weekend between April and November. | 
