Bayesian superyacht captain 'to leave Italy' after 'refusing to answer questions' as manslaughter probe continues

29 August 2024, 11:06 | Updated: 29 August 2024, 11:22

The captain of the Bayesian superyacht is said to have plans to leave Italy as police continue their manslaughter probe.

James Cutfield, 51, is being investigated for possible manslaughter and culpable shipwreck over the incident.

Seven people died after the superyacht sunk off the coast of Italy last week, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his daughter.

Of the 22 passengers and crew aboard the boat, 15 were rescued, including Mr Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares.

The captain, who lost his passport during the incident, has been given a copy so he can return home to Mallorca with his wife.

He is expected to leave by Friday morning, Italian outlet Giornale Di Sicilia reported.

It comes after he refused to answer questions on the incident in an interview with authorities.

Read more: Two British crew members aboard Bayesian superyacht under investigation as captain 'refuses to answer questions'
Read more: Captain of Mike Lynch’s yacht 'under investigation for manslaughter'

There is also a probe into two other members of the crew - engineer Tim Parker-Eaton, who was in charge of the engine room aboard the yacht, and sailor Matthew Griffith.

However, the investigations do not imply guilt or mean that formal charges will be brought against any of the three crew members.

Mr Cutfield's lawyers said earlier in the week that he had been "too shaken up" to answer questions from officials.

Aldo Mordiglia told the Times that he had “exercised his right to remain silent”.

“There were two reasons," he said.

"He is understandably very shaken up, and secondly, us lawyers were only appointed yesterday and we need to acquire information we do not have in order to defend him."

Speaking in court on Saturday, Ambrogio Cartosio, public prosecutor of nearby town Termini Imerese, said that his office had opened an initial investigation into manslaughter.

He said that "behaviours that were not perfectly in order" may have been behind the number of deaths off the coast of Sicily.

But all lines of inquiry are being considered, he said.

The boat trip was a celebration of Mr Lynch's acquittal in a fraud case in the US.

The businessman, who founded the software giant Autonomy in 1996, was cleared in June of carrying out a massive fraud relating to its 11 billion US dollar (£8.64 billion) sale to US company Hewlett Packard.

A decision on whether to raise the sunken yacht from the seabed is "not on the agenda", but will be in the future, a spokesman from the Italian Coastguard previously said.