A FIRE brigade was cleared today of breaching health and safety regulations after a Lancashire firefighter drowned while trying to rescue a teenage boy.
Ramsbottom sub-officer Paul Metcalf, 40, died as he tried to save Reyaz Ali from a lake at Simon's Lodge in Holcombe Brook, near Bury, in September 1999.
Mr Metcalf drowned after his safety line caught on a branch beneath the water.
Reyaz, 15, got into trouble after jumping into the lake while swinging from a piece of rope.
The teenager, who also died, had gone to the lake with a group of friends.
The jury at Bolton Crown Court returned a verdict after only three hours of deliberations.
They cleared Greater Manchester Fire and Civil Defence Authority of breaching its duty to an employee under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
FBU General Secretary, Andy Gilchrist said: "We're disappointed at the verdict. The fire authority admitted a catalogue of systematic failings but laid the blame elsewhere.
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