Tom Best’s father-in-law, Victor Crothers, drowned during a lake dive to recover golf balls.
A “highly qualified” commercial diver and his employer have been fined £10,000 for two health and safety violations resulting from the death of his father-in-law while diving in a golf course lake.
Judge Fiona Bagnall imposed a “nominal” £100 sentence on now-defunct Golf Balls NI Ltd and a £10,000 fine on its only director, 39-year-old Tom Kieran Best, stating several times that “nothing I can impose is in any way capable of equating to the life of Victor Crothers.”
Before her sentencing remarks at Antrim Crown Court, Judge Bagnall paid respect to the sad man and stated that she wanted “to pass on my condolences to his family and friends.”
She told the court that all of the evidence before her showed that Mr Crothers “was always full of fun, very playful, and loved to tell stories to his family.”
Best, of Finvoy Road in Ballymoney, admitted the health and safety violation in October, while Golf Balls NI ltd pleaded guilty to failing to protect the health, safety, and welfare of non-employees on October 26, 2021.
Opening the facts of the case, Judge Bagnall described how the organization was founded in 2020 to rescue, clean, and sell golf balls from water hazards on various courses throughout the north.
With a pallet of balls fetching £2,000, Best was in charge of the company’s day-to-day operations as well as health and safety issues, owing to his experience and highly certified commercial diving background.
While Best was the company’s sole director, two other men worked for it: Mr Crothers, a skilled leisure diver, and another who trained and worked as a police diver.
On October 26, 2021, Best and Mr Crothers were using dive gear to explore the lake at the Hilton Hotel golf course in Templepatrick, and they had already recovered over 1,500 balls when they took a break before returning to the water at 12pm.
Judge Bagnall described the lake as approximately 50 square metres in size with a maximum depth of 2.5 metres, stating that when Best surfaced around 2pm, “he noticed that Mr Crothers had not surfaced.”
He went back inside to check for his father-in-law, but when he couldn’t find him, Best dialed 999, and police and an air ambulance arrived.
Tragically, the police diver who also worked for the company discovered his friend’s dead with a golf ball in his hand.
Turning to the mechanics of the disaster, Judge Bagnall stated that the Diving at Work Regulations make it clear that “using surface supply breathing apparatus is the preferred and safest method.”
Several concerns arose during the incident, including the fact that he was using scuba gear, that the servicing of part of his equipment was out of date, and that his weight belt was cable tied on, preventing him from dumping it and impeding his ability to surface fast.
According to Judge Bagnall, the diving at work regulations and standards make it plain that a team of four is required to safely execute a scuba diving practice.
At the interview, Best stated that he had not conducted a risk assessment.
Best admitted that further safety precautions should have been taken, such as having a diving contractor and supervisor, a spare oxygen cylinder, equipment inspection, an effective weight harness, and a dive plan.
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