Man dies after car plunges off end of pier

Divers pull driver from vehicle

A young island man died after his car went off an Orkney pier, despite a dramatic rescue attempt.

Divers pulled the 29year-old, named locally as fisherman Darryl Wilson, from his car after the vehicle sank to the bottom of Stromness harbour at Copland’s Dock on Tuesday.

The alarm was raised shortly before 7pm and police, coastguards, an ambulance and the Stromness lifeboat crew went to the

“He was the most caring and loving person I have evermet”

end of the pier. The lifeboat crew launched their small inflatable boat and positioned themselves over an oil slick that appeared about 160ft south of the pier.

They began searching the area with torches but could not see anything in the deep water.

Two local divers entered the water and quickly found the vehicle and recovered the lone occupant.

He was taken on to Copland’s Dock, where the crew and medical services tried to revive the man without success.

Divers surveyed the site again in case others were in the car and the lifeboat crew marked the position of the vehicle with a buoy.

The car went into the water at the end of the town’s new £ 10million pier, which opened this year to support the developing wave and tidal energy industries.

Mr Wilson, who lived with his family in nearby Stenness, was skipper on the fishing vessel Defiant.

His wife, Susan, wrote a loving tribute yesterday on a social networking site. It read: “Heaven gained an amazing angel last night, my husband, who was the greatest man in the world.

“He was the most caring and loving person I have ever met, his arms held me in a way nobody else’s ever will. I actually miss that stinky fish smell.

“Ohmy darling baby you were and always will be the love ofmy life. Love you always and forever gorgeous. I hope you feel better now my love.

“Rest in peace my hero. Night night, sweet dreams.”

A police spokesman said that the incident is not being treated as suspicious but remains unexplained.