‘Gareth was a larger-than-life character, everybody liked him’

A LEADING officer in the case said Gareth Pugh and Dale Pike knew each other from their village and had played sport together growing up.

Gwent Police Detective Sergeant David Trew, 36, said: “Dale was clearly upset by the loss of his friend, there was no doubt about that.

“At the end of the day, the charge reflects what happened but Dale never set out for anything bad to happen to his friend.”

After the case, Mr Pugh’s bereaved partner Mayree Worton said she wished she and their daughter “could have him back again”.

DS Trew said: “From my understanding with Gareth was that he was a larger-than-life character – everybody knew him in the village, everybody liked him, always good fun and had a laugh with people, and clearly the family are devastated by their loss and even now, a year later, they are still struggling and coming to terms with it.”

Pike first spotted something was wrong when the stream of bubbles created by Mr Pugh from the freezing cold lake, which are supposed to be intermittent, became constant.

DS Trew said: “They had been diving that morning – Gareth had been in the water to collect golf balls. He had come out mid-morning-ish having collected a whole bag of golf balls.

“They had some food, he [Gareth] had gone back into the water around midday. Just before, he was continuing to dive for a second bag of golf balls when Dale, on the bank, became aware that the bubbles coming from the regulator were now constant.

“He could see the float, which was the rubber ring, was drifting towards the edge, so he became aware that something had gone wrong.”

Pike then called the courses’ greenkeepers, who called their office, who then called the emergency services.

DS Trew said: “Dale had been into the water prior to the emergency services arriving. But he was in the water partially clothed during winter.”

The detective said basic safety measures had not been in place.

“If you’re running a commercial dive operation, for starters you should have a five-man dive team,” DS Trew said, adding there was no dive project plan or risk assessment in place.

Mr Pugh was pulled from the lake, around 2.5m deep in the middle, some 70 minutes after going missing.