Two north-east councils have been fined for health and safety breaches after an 11-year-old boy was found unconscious at the bottom of an outdoor swimming pool.
Aberdeen City Council was fined £9,000 this morning at Aberdeen Sheriff Court after it admitted failing to provide its employees with adequate training to deal with school excursions.
They also admitted failing to adequately assess the risks associated with taking children to an outdoor pool.
The prosecution came after a primary six pupil at Ferryhill primary school was pulled unconscious from the bottom of Stonehaven open air pool on June 28, 2012.
The child, who can not be named for legal reasons, was not breathing when he was rescued by a member of the public who had also been using the pool.
After a life guard administered CPR he was taken to Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital where he was operated on. However he needed to be moved to Edinburgh for specialist treatment.
The school boy made a full recovery.
After the incident the attraction was closed so the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) could carry out investigations.
They also found that Aberdeenshire Council failed to ensure there were enough lifeguards on duty that day so that the whole of the pool was visible at all times.
The council also admitted this breach when the case against it called this morning.
It was fined £4,000.