Diver exploring Scots shipwreck died after going 40ft too deep

Father-of-four Neil Rodgers, 40, became separated from two other more experienced divers when he got into difficulties and failed to surface.

He was only qualified to dive to 35 metres, yet the trio descended to about 47m in the Sound of Mull before they hit trouble.

It is thought all three suffered nitrogen narcosis which affects the nerve cells in a similar way to alcohol as the divers explored the wreck of the Rondo, a cargo vessel which sank in 1935.

As they became separated, Mr Rodgers' "dive buddies" Dr John Fallon and Sarah Brough, each thought he was with the other and Dr Fallon had to ascend rapidly after he lost his weighted dive belt.

Alarm engineer Mr Rodgers, from the Rotherham area, was on a trip with other members of Doncaster Sub Aqua Club when he went missing on 16 March, 2008. His body was found ten months later, about 40 yards from the wreck, lodged between two boulders.

The inquest heard Mr Rodgers had been warned not to go beyond 35m by the club's dive officer beforehand. It is a limit recommended for "sport" divers of his experience by the British Sub Aqua Club.

Independent diving expert Peter Church, who was asked by the coroner to investigate Mr Rodgers' death, told a Sheffield hearing that his two "dive buddies" who were qualified to dive to 50m only checked him once at 11m. He would have expected "frequent" checks on the less experienced diver.

Mr Church said: "I would have expected the whole team to hold at 35m. Beyond that depth I would expect checks at every five metres."

Post-mortem examinations on Mr Rodgers, who had been diving for five years, were carried out in both Glasgow and Sheffield. Neither pathologist could give the exact cause of death which remains "unascertained".

Mrs Brough said it was more "challenging" for three divers to communicate than going in pairs but after the check at 11m they descended "very quickly" with all three in touching distance.

The diver suddenly realised when she checked her depth gauge that they were at 47m. They stopped the dive and all three sat in a triangle on the wreck to regroup. Mrs Brough said: "Neil started showing signs that he was going into panic and he really wanted to start going up. He wasn't happy."

Dr Fallon told the inquest his belt snared and then came off.

Assistant deputy coroner Donald Coutts-Wood said he was satisfied that Mr Rodgers' equipment played no part in his death and the dive plan beforehand and at the scene was adequate.

He added: "I am satisfied that narcosis played a role in what happened at the depth they reached." He recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.