Tullibody woman drowns on holiday in Spain

Hamish Hutchinson • Published 28 Oct 2009 12:42 0 Comments

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THE heartbroken father of a Tullibody woman who tragically drowned whilst on holiday in Spain has spoken of his devastation at losing a second child.

Michelle Weir drowned last Wednesday after going for a swim with friends off the resort of Salou in the Costa Dorada in the early hours of the morning.

Michelle and 29-year-old Mark Porter got into difficulties in the rough seas of Salou around 2am and their bodies were discovered by Spanish police around half a mile from where they were swimming.

The 24-year-old, who lived with her mother Ina in Tullibody and took her name, is the half sister of Victoria Clydesdale who was killed in the Dunblane massacre 13-years-ago aged just five.

Victoria was one of 16 pupils who were gunned down by maniac Thomas Hamilton when he burst into Dunblane Primary in 1996 killing the children and their teacher before turning the gun on himself.

Their father, Charlie Clydesdale, said his family were utterly devastated at suffering yet another tragedy and tributes have been paid to Michelle who has been described as a "genuine and nice girl".

The 53-year-old was told of the tragic accident in a phone call by Michelle's brother Gareth and immediately went to his ex-wife's home in Tullibody to comfort Ina and Gareth, and Michelle's other brother Charles.

Charlie, from Falkirk, said, "We can't take it all in. It's just tragic.

"I can't put my feelings in to words - we are all so numb. I just feel 'not again'. We're all so shocked, I can't say any more."

His second wife, Irene, his partner of 19 years, went on, "Charlie's living the nightmare again. When he put the phone down he just said 'please tell me this is a dream'.

"He was in a daze. Michelle was a genuine, nice, girl. We had not got over Victoria's death - you can't - but it had got easier."

Reports from Spain said that Michelle and Mark, and three other British friends, had gone for a midnight swim in a small rocky cove at the northern end of the seven mile long Playa Larga beach, but got into difficulties in the rough water.

The other three managed to get out of the sea on their own and raced back to their hotel to raise the alarm and staff at the hotel, where all five were staying, contacted emergency services at around 2.25am.

A fire service rescue team, including divers, rushed to the scene along with police but the divers were not needed as officers from the Catalan regional police force found the bodies washed-up on the beach at the popular holiday resort. An officer confirmed that weather conditions were poor and it had been raining most of the night.

A spokeswoman for the Catalan police at provincial headquarters at nearby Tarragona, said, "The alarm was raised after the three friends of the victims ran back to their hotel. That was at about 2am. The bodies were found at 3.45am. They were about 800 meters away from where they got into difficulties."

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said, "We can confirm the deaths of two British nationals in Salou in Spain. Their next of kin have been informed and we are offering consular assistance to them.

"We understand that they went swimming and got in to difficulties in the early hours of the morning. It would seem to have been a tragic accident. Local police were at the scene, but I understand there are no suspicions of anything other than a tragic accident."

A spokeswoman for Central Scotland Police said, "We are aware of the death of a young woman from the Central Scotland Police area, and we have been in contact with the family."

Michelle's family were due to fly to Spain on Friday to bring her body home.

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