Youth charged over 'tombstoning'

The boy had to be rescued by lifeboat crews at Arbroath

A teenager has been charged with breach of the peace after he had to be rescued by lifeboat crews in Angus.

It is alleged the 16-year-old was tombstoning at Needle's E'e near Arbroath on Saturday.

The rough seas washed him into a cave. The youth managed to clamber out, but he was stuck on the cliffs and had to jump down into a lifeboat.

Tombstoning is an extreme sport involving jumping from cliffs or other high objects into the sea.

Ray Barton, from Arbroath RNLI, said: "At that age they don't realise what danger they could have been in. It seems like the attitude has been that if you get rescued it's just one of those things that they can boast about at a later date.

"The dangers are many at Arbroath at the cliffs - rocky landings, bad tides, a very very strong sea."

He said the cliffs were also "on the move" at Arbroath, which meant the ground could give way while people were watching tombstoning.

"You've also got the disadvantage of how difficult it is in certain conditions to get a boat to the area and therefore your rescue can be delayed or it may not even be possible.

"It's called tombstoning for a reason - get it wrong and you end up with a tombstone," he added.