Christopher Rogers: Jury hears lifeguard police statements

Mr McVeigh’s interviews were the first to be read by Kevin Campbell, a senior investigator with the HSENI.

The jury heard that, on legal advice, he refused to answer police questions, referring them instead to a detailed statement he made a few weeks after Mr Rogers died.

That statement was read into the record by the interviewing officers, and the jury heard how Mr McVeigh outlined that he was aware of Mr Rogers holding his breath and swimming lengths underwater.

The lifeguard said that due to glare on the water surface, he moved to get a better view and then could see Mr Rogers on the bottom of the pool who “seemed to be conscious and he was moving – sitting up and lying down”.

He said that a member of the public checked Mr Rogers and, after this, he “and other staff still had no concerns – we believed him to be holding his breath as previous”.

In his statement, Mr McVeigh recounted that after he banged on the metal steps with a reach pole, “a member of the public grabbed his arm and came up and I noticed there was no reaction from Christopher”.

“I would like to clarify that when I stated that Christopher Rogers was under the water we did not believe that he was in any danger but that we were concerned that he had been holding his breath for a pretty long time,” the statement read.