FIVE councillors - including East Ayrshire's provost - have been fined after admitting health and safety failings which led to a disabled swimmer almost drowning when he was left underwater for nearly two minutes.
Kilmarnock Sheriff Court heard that the 25-year-old autistic male became submerged underwater at the town's Galleon Leisure Centre on January 10, 2023, after sliding into the small swimming pool.
He remained there for one minute and 52 seconds before he was spotted face down in the middle of the pool by volunteers of his Kilmarnock Jets swimming club.
The court heard that he was eventually pulled out and placed in the recovery position before lifeguards were called to raise the alarm. Paramedics arrived half an hour later and he was rushed by ambulance to Crosshouse Hospital.
The non-verbal man, who has not returned to the club since, was found to have fluid in his lungs and was believed to have suffered from a seizure, which led to him passing out in the pool.
Ballochmyle councillor Claire Leitch, appointed provost last year, had been charged alongside Kilmarnock South representative Clare Maitland, Kilmarnock West and Crosshouse elected members James Adams and Iain Linton, and Kilmarnock East and Hurlford councillor Barry Douglas, with failing to carry out sufficient risk assessments before the incident.
The councillors, along with fellow trustee of the Kilmarnock Leisure Centre Trust, Manpreet Bawa, pleaded guilty through a solicitor on Thursday, June 12.
None of the six appeared in the dock.
They were fined a total of £11,825, which includes a victim surcharge of £825.
The incident comes just three years after trustees were fined £10,000 for similar failings.
A six-year-old girl nearly drowned in a swimming pool at the same leisure centre in July 2019 after falling unconscious underwater.
She was rescued by an 11-year-old boy who had been playing in the pool and felt something touch his foot, it was reported at the time.
The case was investigated by East Ayrshire Council’s Environmental Health Service who found that the trust had failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of the use of inflatables during fun swimming activity sessions - and that they were deployed and used in accordance with the manufacturer’s safety instructions.
They also found that the trust had failed to carry out lifeguard zone visibility tests to ensure adequate supervision and control of the sessions.
The fiscal depute told the court today: "A local authority assessment was carried out [after the 2023 incident] and found insufficient health and safety practices.
"A risk assessment had not been shared with the group [Kilmarnock Jets].
"A lifeguard was working with the group for the first time and was unaware of [their] responsibilities. [They] had not received relevant instructions.
"[They] did not attend to the incident and thought it was volunteers who had responsibility."
Six requirements were identified from the post-incident assessment carried out by the Galleon.
A solicitor for the trustees said: “The trustees wish to express their sincere regret to [the victim] and his family for the incident that took place.”
Linton, 62, of Grange Terrace, Maitland, 58, of Lindsay Street, Douglas, 43, of Muirfield Drive, Adams, 52, of Holehouse Road, and Bawa, 39, of Pollok Morris Drive, all Kilmarnock, plus 34-year-old Leitch, of Woodlands Road, Sorn, were sentenced on Thursday afternoon.
Sheriff Ian Duguid KC said: "It is unfortunate that it was left to the volunteers to pull [the victim] out of the water.”
He added that people of East Ayrshire could miss out if a significant financial penalty were imposed.
He said: “This is a charity that serves members of the public, it is in no one’s interest to have a severe penalty imposed.”
