Mike Lynch drowned in superyacht sinking - inquest

Tech tycoon Mike Lynch drowned and the causes of the deaths of three other British nationals remain under investigation following the sinking of the Bayesian superyacht off the coast of Sicily, a series of inquest openings in the UK heard.

The 59-year-old billionaire entrepreneur, his daughter Hannah Lynch, 18, Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and his 71-year-old wife Judy Bloomer were among those on the stricken vessel.

Their deaths came after the Bayesian "for reasons yet to be unascertained sank rapidly" between 4.15am and 4.45am on 19 August, Detective Superintendent Mike Brown of Suffolk Police said.

He said that searches began in the following hours and "continued uninterruptedly in the following days", with bodies later located in the cabins of the vessel.

The officer said the time of death for all four was recorded as 5am the same day.

Each of the four inquests were separately opened and adjourned in Ipswich, until a hearing on 15 April next year.

Mr Brown said the Bayesian was 0.8 nautical miles from the coast of the fishing village of Porticello at the time and had 22 people on board - 12 crew and ten guests.

Seven of them died.

Mr Brown said Mr Lynch's provisional medical cause of death was recorded as drowning, following a post-mortem examination by Professor Antonia D'Argo.

He said that his death was confirmed on 22 August following the recovery of his body.

He said that the medical cause of death remained under investigation in the cases of Ms Lynch and Mr and Mrs Bloomer, following post-mortem examinations by Dr Tomasso D'Anna.

He said that the deaths of Mr and Mrs Bloomer were confirmed on 21 August, and Ms Lynch's death was confirmed on 23 August, following the recovery of their bodies.

The officer said an investigation had been started by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) to "understand how the Bayesian sank" and the Italian authorities have started "their own independent criminal investigations".

Mr Lynch and his daughter both lived in the vicinity of London, while the Bloomers lived in Sevenoaks in Kent, Mr Brown said.

The others who died were US lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, and Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas who was working as a chef on the vessel.

Suffolk's senior coroner Nigel Parsley asked Mr Brown if "in effect we're in the hands of" the MAIB and the Italian authorities as to "when we will get any further material".

The officer replied: "Yes."

The coroner adjourned proceedings until 15 April "for further work" to be carried out.

Mr Lynch had founded software giant Autonomy in 1996 and was cleared in June this year of carrying out a massive fraud over the sale of the firm to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

The boat trip was a celebration of his acquittal in the case in the US.