British tech billionaire Mike Lynch drowned when his £30million Bayesian yacht sank but his 18-year-old daughter Hannah’s death is still under investigation, an inquest heard.
Seven people died when Mr Lynch’s sailing boat they were holidaying on sank in just 16 minutes after getting caught in a freak storm off the coast of Porticello, a small fishing village of the coast of Sicily, in the early hours of August 19.
An inquest at Suffolk Coroner’s Court in Ipswich has been opened into the deaths of Mr Lynch, 59, his daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and his wife, Judy, 71.
Fifteen people – including Mr Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares – survived the tragedy – along with 14 others and it came just months after he was cleared of a multi-billion fraud by a US court involving software giant Hewlett Packard.
Mr Lynch, 59, and Hannah, 18, were among seven people who died when the Bayesian sunk in August
A handout photo made available on August 19 by Perini Navi Press Office shows the ‘Bayesian’ sailing boat, in Palermo, Sicily, Italy
Autopsies carried out on Morgan Stanley boss Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy reveal they ‘suffocated’ in an air bubble and didn’t drown, reports claim
The skipper of the yacht New Zealander James Cutfield, 51, and British duo, chief engineer Tim Parker Eaton, 59, and watchman Matthew Griffiths, 22, have all been place under formal investigation for multiple manslaughter and causing a disaster.
Hannah, who was due to start a degree course at Oxford University this year, was the last of the seven to be found, four days after the sinking, her body hidden behind a mattress below deck.
Coroner Nigel Parsley was told by DS Mike Brown of Suffolk police that the yacht had sunk ‘rapidly for reasons yet to be ascertained’ and that Mr Lynch’s body was found on August 22, with Hannah’s the following day.
DS Brown revealed that a postmortem in Italy established the cause of Hannah’s death was ‘under investigation’ while Mr Lynch died from drowning and both bodies were identified by Bayesian crew members.
The cause of Sevenoaks based Mr Bloomer’s death and that of his wife Judy was also said to be ‘under investigation’.
The first autopsies were carried out on lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda (both pictured) were also found to have no water in their lungs in post-mortems conducted earlier this week
Recaldo Thomas, chef on the Bayesian, was the first person to be recovered after the yacht sunk
An Italian fire service dive team return to port on the fifth day of the search and recovery operation after the luxury yacht Bayesian sank in a storm
Italian reports have said that the three may have possible been in an airpocket and suffocated rather than drowned as no water was found in their lungs but no evidence of this was heard at the inquest.
The time of death for all four was given as 5am on August 19, less than an hour after the yacht was hit by the freak storm known as a downburst and there were ten guests and twelve crew onboard.
When asked for further explanation of this by the coroner, Supt Brown and that ‘further tests were needed’ to establish the cause of deaths and that it was ‘not uncommon’ in such circumstances.
Superintendent Brown said that as the Bayesian was British registered the Marine Accident Investigation Branch was also probing the sinking and that Italian authorities had launched a criminal case.
Mr Parsley described the four deaths as ‘very sad’ and he adjourned the hearing until 15 April 2025 for ‘further investigations’.
