Mother whose son drowned in Cork river calls for action on filming of tragedies

A distraught mother, whose son drowned in the River Lee in Cork city last month, has repeated a call to the minister for justice to consider introducing legislation that would criminalise the filming of fatal accidents.

Luke Hyde, aged 34, of Wolfe Tone St in Cork city, drowned on April 30 after he got into difficulty while swimming across the northern channel of the river, from Pope’s Quay to Lavitt’s Quay.

While the incident was ongoing, a number of people along the quays were seen videoing and live-streaming the tragedy, leading Luke’s mother, Elizabeth Hyde, to call for legislation regarding the filming of such incidents.

In response to a parliamentary question by Fine Gael Cork North Central TD Colm Burke last week, justice minister Jim O’Callaghan said that the Government is not looking at introducing a law that would prohibit the documentation and distribution of footage from such events.

Troubling trend

“I fully recognise the growing and deeply troubling trend of people recording and sharing videos or images of fatal accidents, often using smartphones or similar devices,” said Mr O’Callaghan.

“These actions can cause immense distress to victims’ families, violate the dignity of the deceased, and worsen the trauma of an already tragic situation.

“Criminalisation is never a quick fix ... [and] while the Government is not currently proposing to introduce new legislation specifically criminalising the recording or sharing of fatal-accident footage, I recognise the harm that can be caused.”

Elizabeth Hyde told The Echo that she feels the Government’s reluctance to introduce legislation, such as a ‘Luke’s Law’, to criminalise the filming of such accidents, is “a disgrace”.

“I am totally and utterly disgusted at the minister — his words were cold and empty,” said Ms Hyde.

“My heart and soul have been torn from my body. I cannot describe the pain I and [Luke’s] siblings are going through — we are tortured by the memory of what happened to my son.

“This response [from the minister] means nothing; it’s a disgrace. I would like to speak with him face to face and ask him to look me in the eye. I would say: ‘Here’s my shoes, step into them for one minute, and you might feel what I’m going through’.

“I would like to see Luke’s Law passed — my son hasn’t died in vain. We’re going to push for this.

“When he died, I died with him, and his siblings. All we want to do is to stop another tragedy from happening there again, and to have a plaque put up down by the river where he drowned.

“That river has taken so many lives, back through the years, and there’s wide-open access to it; there’s nothing to stop people going in."

Prosecution

“For anybody filming these accidents, I would like to see prosecution, jail time, or a massive fine,” she added.

“I don’t know what has happened to the people of this world; they’re like zombies, to see a tragedy and just film it, instead of helping.”

Members of the fire service who were called to the scene said they saw no signs of lifebuoys in the water when they arrived minutes after the alarm was raised.

“To think that he was drowning and nobody threw a lifebuoy in to save him,” Ms Hyde said.

“Not one lifebuoy was thrown —there are four down there, two on one side of the bridge and two on the other. They were right there, but, instead, they took out their phones and cameras to film him drowning.

“If it was somebody else in the water that day, and my son came along, he would’ve been head first into that water. He just wasn’t for this world; he cared about everyone.

“He put everyone else’s problems before his own; he had such a caring nature. He was the most loving and caring soul that God put on this Earth. He loved everyone and tried to help everyone. I was just lucky to have him for the 34 years.

“My life, and his siblings’ lives, have been destroyed. I will never be the same again because of the sadness of the situation that day, that nobody helped.

“No family should have to go through this; no mother should have to bury her child.”

Angry

Speaking to The Echo, Kelly Ann Peyton, from Blarney St, who was a childhood friend of Luke, also shared her response to the minister’s comments.

“I’m very angry at this response; it’s absolutely disgraceful,” said Ms Peyton. “I won’t be leaving this go easy — if I have to go and sleep outside the Dáil, I’ll do it.

“Recognising the trauma does nothing. This is someone’s life we’re speaking about; this is someone’s brother, son, and friend.

“I’m going to give it my all to get Luke’s Law passed. I’ve done research into it, and Germany has a law like this in place.

“I would like people who are found recording a scene of a serious or fatal accident to be given a penalty, whether that’s prison time or a fine.

“What’s killing us the most about what happened is that people never helped Luke; that they decided to film instead.

“I walked down to where it happened the other day, and from where Luke went in, within 10ft, there was a lifebuoy.

“You can get a lifebuoy back, and if you can’t, they can be replaced — but you can’t get a life back.

“Luke came from the navy, he would’ve known how to swim and what to do in difficulty, but this just shows how strong the undercurrent was.

“This isn’t the end, this is only the start. I’ll keep going until I get better answers.

“It’s not going to be easy to get a law in place, but I would love to get a letter on the minister for justice’s desk to explain the pain of what happened.”

Support

Speaking to The Echo, Colm Burke expressed his support for the Hyde family.

“The Government are saying that they are not going to propose to introduce such legislation, but I actually believe that this is an issue that needs to be looked at,” he said.

“For the person who tragically died and their family, for them to have to go through this, we need to protect them.

“The incident [being] up online is totally inappropriate. Posting it up on social media [should] be a criminal offence.

“The debate has started, and I think it’s important that we continue on in looking at it and trying to progress how we could put the legislation in place.

“This is something that we need to discuss; social media can be so damaging.”

Speaking to The Echo, Sinn Féin councillor for Cork City North West, Michelle Gould, said anything that can lessen the trauma experienced by families going through unimaginable grief should be done.

“Dignity and respect should be at the core of this, and if the current law undermines that, then it should be changed,” she said.