Lifeguard Cleared Of Assault After Video Shows Him Kicking Terrified Young Man Off High-Up Diving Board

A lifeguard has been cleared of assault after a video emerged showing him kicking a terrified young man off a high-up diving board.

But despite being cleared of criminal charges, he has nonetheless been let go by his employer after he kicked the 19-year-old swimmer off the 10-metre (32.8-foot) diving board.

The incident took place in Steyr, a town in north-central Austria that is known as the home of the arms manufacturer of the same name, in mid-August last summer (2023).

The video shows the lifeguard sticking his foot into the back of the 19-year-old, who can be seen clinging onto the railing on either side of the concrete diving board before letting go and bracing himself as he falls through the air into the swimming pool.

Local media reported that the incident occurred after the young man was told to leave the area by two lifeguards when he failed to jump on the diving board for some time.

Student Seriously Injured In High-Speed Smash Into Tree

But after he failed to do that too, one of the lifeguards climbed the diving board and kicked him off it.

The footage made waves on social media and in local media, with many netizens calling for the lifeguard to be sacked.

The management at the swimming pool fired the lifeguard, who has not been named due to local principles, citing his behaviour as “unacceptable”.

The lifeguard has now escaped punishment in the courts after a judge ruled that he had not acted illegally because the diver, also unnamed, had not been injured.