Mike Lynch Died From Drowning, Coroner Inquest Rules

UK inquest rules that tech entrepreneur and former Autonomy CEO Dr Mike Lynch died from drowning, while the other British deaths are still under investigation.

According to Sky News, Suffolk Coroner’s Court, in Ipswich ruled that Mike Lynch drowned when his superyacht Bayesian capsized and sunk in the early hours of Monday 19 August, off the coast of Sicily during a freak storm. The sinking claimed the lives of seven people in total.

However the deaths of three British citizens, Lynch’s daughter 18 year-old daughter Hannah Lynch Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and his 71-year-old wife Judy Bloomer, still remain under investigation after their cases were opened and adjourned at Suffolk Coroner’s Court.

Coroner inquest

Sky News reported Suffolk Police Detective Superintendent Michael Brown as saying that 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 reportedly 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.

The date and time of death for all four British victims was given as 5am on 19 August 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.

The British-flagged yacht “sank rapidly” between 4.15am and 4.45am for reasons which are “yet to be ascertained”, the inquest heard.

Suffolk’s senior coroner Nigel Parsley adjourned the inquest until 15 April 2025.

The other three people who died were American lawyer at Clifford Chance Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo.

The body of luxury yacht chef Recaldo Thomas, a Canadian-Antiguan national, had been recovered near the wreck during the search and rescue operation.

Legal issues

An investigation is being carried out by the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch, while the Italian authorities conducting their own probe.

Italian civil protection officials believe Bayesian was struck by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout, and sank quickly.

The boat trip had been a celebration of 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.

There were 22 people in total on board, including Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares, who was among the 15 people rescued, after the vessel sank.

The death of Lynch happened on the same day that Stephen Chamberlain, the former vice president of finance of Autonomy who was co-defendent in a US fraud trial alongside former chief Mike Lynch, died after being struck by a car in Cambridgeshire.

Bayesian captain, New Zealander James Cutfield, had exercised his right to remain silent during questioning by Italian authorities.

But Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group (owner of the flagship brand Perini Navi), had blamed the Bayesian’s crew for the “incredible mistake” of not being prepared for the storm, which had been announced in shipping forecasts.

A lawyer representing the builder of the Bayesian superyacht has begun a £186 million lawsuit for damages against Mike Lynch’s widow and crew over the sinking.