WORTHING, UK (1 May 2009) — Coroner Penelope Schofield recorded a verdict of accidental death by drowning in the death of scuba diver John Maneely. Maneely, 32, died while scuba diving with a rebreather in a deep cave at Source du Doubs in France near the Swiss border. Other divers who also entered the cave system with Maneely started searching when he failed to resurface and found his body trapped under a ledge 26 meters down the main shaft of the cave. According to a report by French investigators, which was admitted as evidence in the hearing, the large size of Maneely's rebreather may have caused his death. Other divers had warned him the night before the dive that his equipment was too big to pass through narrower parts of the cave. Maneely ignored the warning and apparently encountered problems at a narrow gap. According to the report, which was read out at the inquest, French investigators said they could not be sure what happened but speculated that Maneely took off his rebreather and managed to squeeze through the gap breathing from another bottle. He then may have tried to put his rebreather back on but failed and attempted to resurface holding the bottle under his arm. Maneely's father, David, said his son broke his back ten years ago in a motorcycle accident and suffered long-term injuries that may have prevented him from putting the rebreather back on. | 
