Body of boy, 16, recovered at quarry

Officers said that the 16-year-old from Airdrie had gone to Springbank quarry in North Lanarkshire with friends on Tuesday afternoon with the intention of swimming and fishing.

“It would appear that when he went into the water, he got into difficulty and has not managed to get out,” said a spokeswoman for Strathclyde police.

The police were called to the quarry, where an underwater operation and a search of the embankment was carried out by officers from Strathclyde Police air support and Strathclyde Fire and Rescue.

A body was discovered and pulled from the water yesterday at about lunchtime, but it was not officially identified as Martyn until late afternoon.

The police spokeswoman said that a post mortem would take place to establish the cause of his death, but added that, at this point, there appeared “to be no suspicious circumstances”. A report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.

Friends of Martyn, who was a former pupil of Drumpark School for children with special educational needs, posted tributes to the dead teenager on Facebook and Twitter throughout the day.

Catherine Wilson wrote: “RIP Martyn McPhail we all will miss you lots :( you were so young! God only takes the best!”

Clara Prov tweeted: “My thoughts are with Martyn McPhail & his family, can’t imagine what there going through, horrible losing someone so young.”

The quarry consists of three pits which are filled with water. It is populated by roach, pike, perch and eels, making it popular with coarse fishermen. The Scottish Federation for Coarse Angling website describes it as a “free – if not always entirely safe – fishery for nearby anglers”.

The area, which is on private land, is fenced off with signs saying “Danger – Quarry. High faces and deep water. Keep out” posted around the site. However, there are areas where the fence has been vandalised to gain access to the water.

It is understood that the quarry was due to undergo its annual statutory inspection by North Lanarkshire Council later this month, but at the request of the police, this has now been brought forward and will take place today.

There are currently proposals by a developer to partially fill in the three pits to make them shallower, stabilise some of the rocks around the area, to make it more accessible for recreation.