Richard Hartley, from Bradford, disappeared in July 2003 while diving the wreck of the Cambank, with other members of Bradford Sub-Aqua Club. He and his brother had swum around the wreck before starting their ascent, during which contact was lost.
No body was found and, in March 2004, an open verdict was recorded at an inquest held by the North Wales Coroner, Dewi Pritchard-Jones. Then, just one month later, Hartley's body was located by a diver on the seabed at a depth of 43m, not far from the Cambank.
Pritchard-Jones duly won a High Court ruling to hold a second hearing, which took place this week. The inquest heard how Hartley's body was too decomposed to allow determination of the cause of death. But his equipment was tested successfully, with the conclusion that there were no faults.
Hartley's brother, Clive Hartley Havers, told the inquest how he had been just above Hartley during their ascent but had glanced back regularly, until suddenly Hartley was no longer there. 'I imagine what happened did so quickly; he didn't have time to do anything,' he said.
Pritchard-Jones agreed, commenting that test evidence suggested Hartley had not inflated his BC to instigate an emergency ascent, which might have been expected had the diver been able to do it.
The coroner concluded that he was now in a position to record a verdict of accidental death.
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