THE sister of a north-east skipper who died in an accident at a marina in England has revealed that she learned of his death from friends and neighbours.
James Reid died in the early hours of Saturday after plunging into the sea at North Shields in Northumbria.
The 37-year-old skipper of the Fraserburgh-registered Horizon II slipped as he tried to reach his trawler and got trapped between the boat and the harbour wall.
He was unconscious when a lifeboat crew recovered him. His rescuers believe he may have been in the water for some time.
Mr Reid, from Fraserburgh, who was married with two children aged 12 and 14, was taken to hospital but later died.
His sister, Katherine Matthew, said last night that investigators had passed on very little information to the family.
She said: “I was personally appalled that most of Fraserburgh knew about my brother’s death before his wife, his parents, my other brother or I did.
“We have been searching for answers as to what happened that night. My mother, father and brother are, at the moment, down at North Shields to try and find out information.
“We found out something had happened from people in Fraserburgh who phoned and asked my brother if James was OK about 9am on Saturday.
“When the police came round, it was about 11.30am and they could only confirm that he was dead but had no other details.”
A police spokeswoman said the force had been informed about the incident by officers in Northumbria and had broken the news to Mr Reid’s family, but officers at Fraserburgh had no further involvement with the incident.
Last night, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) confirmed a probe into the accident had started.
A spokeswoman said: “The investigation process can take quite some time and a report will be published in due course.
“However, we are unable to provide any further information at present.”
Mr Reid had been working in north-east England with a crew of Filipino fishermen.
The Tynemouth lifeboat team was called to the scene at the Royal Quays Marina just before 12.50am on Saturday.
RNLI crewman Ian Black went into the water and swam towards Mr Reid. He managed to lift him on to the lifeboat with the help of two other crew members.
The fisherman was taken to a nearby pontoon, where he was treated by the ambulance service’s hazardous-area response team before being taken to hospital.
Despite attempts to revive Mr Reid, he died a short time later.
Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade captain Peter Lilley said: “It was a major incident involving all emergency services.
“We’re not sure how the man came to fall but he seems to have somehow lost his footing.
“There were two trawlers moored side-by-side and he was trying to get across one boat to get on to his boat when he fell.”
He added: “Despite the best efforts of all those involved in his rescue, he died in hospital at around 3am.
“The brigade expresses its deepest sympathies to his friends and family.”
Close friend and former crewmate Billy Wood paid tribute to Mr Reid.
“James was a very well-liked and respected young skipper who will be sorely missed,” he said. “He will leave an unbreachable void in his family’s lives.”
Both Northumbria Police and Police Scotland said they would have no further involvement with the investigation.
The Health and Safety Executive said it had been made aware and that the MAIB was taking the lead in the investigation.