Falkirk man dies in diving tragedy

Ryan McGuckin (39) was shellfish diving with friend Iain Macdougall (39), who was from the island, on Saturday.

The alarm was raised around 11.20am when the pair failed to resurface from their dive in Castlebay.

The Barra Coastguard team, the RNLI and the Coastguard helicopter were involved in the search.

The RNLI Barra lifeboat crew recovered the men’s bodies at about 1pm.

Mr McGuckin was head of chartering and shipping operations with Gazprom Marketing & Trading and was living in London.

He is understood to be married with children.

A former pupil of St Mungo’s High School, his parents still live in the Stenhousemuir area.

Inspector Jane Nicolson said: “Our thoughts are with the families and friends of both Mr Macdougall and Mr McGuckin at this very difficult time, as well as with the tight-knit community on Barra which has been deeply affected by this tragedy.

“I would once again like to take the opportunity to thank members of the public who assisted the emergency services on Saturday.”Our inquiries are continuing but there does not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.

“A report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal as is standard in these cases.”