[Foggy]

A very difficult call to make. The man put himself in difficulty and the officers had to assess the risks as they saw them.

As to whether I would have gone in?
Yes - in my younger days I was in the lifeguards and was part of Thames rescue, and I have had to pull people out. On one occasion I had waded across the river without dunking my head, when a guy having left the pub (we had mid afternoon closing back then) did a Head first dive from the road bridge - he didn't surface, so myself and one other lifeguard started an underwater search ...when he suddenly popped to the surface bleeding profusly from his head (funnily enough he didn't thrash about much) - off to casulty asap. Another occasion a person went in a weir, and their muscles all spasm'd (jan 1st) - pulled them to the side of my canoe and held on whilst someone else pushed us to shore...yes cold water is in itself a risk.

Cheers, Paul