A swimmer who died in the sea off Thorpe Bay has been named as James O'Gorman, a partner in a Westcliff restaurant.

Mr O'Gorman, 26, of Argyll Road, was pronounced dead at Southend Hospital after being pulled from the water by an air sea rescue helicopter on Monday evening.

Kentavan Croft, his business partner at the Singha Thai Restaurant in West Road, said: "Everybody loved him.

"He was a good man, a nice guy and hard-working. Things were going well in the restaurant and he was happy with the business."

Ms Croft said Mr O'Gorman was a keen sportsman but had recently devoted much time to the business.

Mr O'Gorman, unmarried, was born in Singapore and was half-Thai. It was while he was working alongside Ms Croft at a Thai restaurant in Leigh that he was inspired to join in a new business venture in the shape of the Singha Thai.

The restaurant has been closed as a mark of respect following Mr O'Gorman's death. It will re-open on Thursday next week.

A post mortem into his death was due to be held yesterday (Wednesday), but his death is not being treated as suspicious. The alarm had been raised when a wo-man saw Mr O'Gorman swim to a boat, climb on, and jump off again.

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