HARTLEPOOL, UK (21 Feb 2009) — Scuba divers who were with Paul Swain when he died while scuba diving in Malta took no responsibility for the fatal accident instead blaming "improper" warning signs for the diver's death. Swain, 48, died while scuba diving in the wreck of the Gozo ferry Xlendi on November 3 last year. He and two other divers who penetrated the wreck became disoriented and lost contact with each other. The other two divers managed to find their way out but Swain ran out of air and died of asphyxiation in the wreck. His body was not recovered until two weeks later. The other divers told an inquest at Hartlepool Magistrates' Court that they probably would have aborted the dive and gone elsewhere had there been clear warning signs at the wreck site. They said there were three signs, one face down at the entrance, a second was obstructed and a third was facing out to sea. The testimony by the UK divers contradicted statements made last November by Etienne Micallef, Master instructor of the Malta Red Cross sea rescue services. Micallef said it was common knowledge in the diving community that entering the wreck was dangerous and noted that the Red Cross had placed large reflective signs all round the wreck warning divers not to enter. Micallef said the signs were cleaned up just a week before the scuba diving accident that killed Swain. "The ship is not safe. It is upside down, and swimming into the hull is dangerous because it is dark, fine silt may make you lose your bearings, and there are not enough exits" Mr Micallef said. Diving experts also criticized the divers for failing to take proper safety precautions that are standard procedure for wreck penetration, which significantly increases the inherent risks of diving. Inquest or wake? Hartlepool coroner Malcolm Donnelly recorded a verdict of accidental death and in a bizarre closing statement more appropriate to a wake than an inquest into the causes of a fatal scuba diving accident, he swooned that Swain had died enjoying his hobby. "He died doing something he loved," Donnelly gushed. "It is not a given, to all of us, to die doing something we loved." | 
