Tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s cause of death has been recorded as drowning following the Bayesian superyacht disaster, an inquest has heard.
The 59-year-old billionaire, who founded software giant Autonomy in 1996, was one of seven people who died after the yacht sank off the coast of Sicily in August.
An inquest into his death, as well as the three other British victims, including his daughter Hannah Lynch, 18, Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and his 71-year-old wife Judy Bloomer, has been opened and adjourned at Suffolk Coroner’s Court, in Ipswich.
Suffolk Police Detective Superintendent Michael Brown said the provisional cause of death for Mr Lynch was given as drowning, while the cause of death for the other three is still under investigation.
He said further testing was required to establish their cause of death, which is not unusual following the initial post-mortem in Italy, which was the equivalent of a Home Office post-mortem in the UK.
Mr Lynch and his daughter both lived in London, while the Bloomers lived in Sevenoaks in Kent.
The boat trip was a celebration of Mr Lynch’s acquittal in a US trial in June over allegations he carried out a massive fraud over the sale of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011.
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There were 22 people on board, including his wife Angela Bacares, who was among the 15 people rescued, after the vessel sank during a violent storm.
Pic: Perini Navi
US lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, and Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the vessel, also died in the disaster.
The date and time of death for all four British victims was given as 5am on August 19 after being “lost at sea” following the sinking of the Bayesian around 0.8 nautical miles off the coast of the fishing village of Porticello.
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The British-flagged yacht “sank rapidly” between 4.15am and 4.45am for reasons which are “yet to be ascertained”, the inquest heard.
An investigation has been started by the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch, while the Italian authorities have opened their own criminal probe.
Suffolk’s senior coroner Nigel Parsley adjourned the inquest until 15 April next year.
