Friends relive horror as boy, 15, drowns in reservoir

A POLICE diver has described pulling the body of a 15-year-old boy from a South Yorkshire reservoir - the third teenager to die in the former pit in 13 years.

Underwater search unit PC Glen Poole told an inquest he found Phillip Law drowned in cold water six metres below the surface of Manvers Lake on a hot summer’s day last year.

Friends who had been swimming in the lake with Phillip had tried in vain to save him, and coroner Nicola Mundy praised what she called their “valiant efforts”.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, she said: “Phillip was merely doing what many young people do, and enjoying a warm summer day.”

He was one of four pals, aged 15 and 16, who had gone to Manvers Lake on the morning of June 23 last year.

In a statement read to the inquest, friend Jack Banton, 16, said: “We were swimming about and having a right good time.”

He said the lads had been discussing camping on the larger of two islands in the middle of the lake, around 50m from the shore, and decided to swim over to have a look.