The father of a British music producer who died while scuba diving off Byron Bay in New South Wales has told a court that losing a child is the most pain a parent can feel.
“It feels worse to me because his death could have been avoided,” the court heard.
Karl Bareham was found lying on the ocean floor 2.5km off the coast, without his breathing equipment in his mouth, during a dive tour of Nguthungulli/Julian Rocks on 24 September 2019.
The 37-year-old had arrived in Australia the day before to tour with City and Colour musician Dallas Green.
Bareham’s father and sister travelled from the UK for a week-long inquest into his death at the NSW state coroner’s court. His sister, Lauren, tearfully read out his father Keith’s statement to the court after Keith became too emotional to continue.
He also wrote of Bareham’s selflessness and how he “touched the hearts of everyone he met” and that he still tells people he has four children, not three. He said Bareham leaves a lasting legacy through music.
“I urge you all to look up Karl and hear for yourself what an amazing character he was.”
The inquest proceedings were due to finish on Friday, but will now continue for two more days, next year.
Earlier on Friday, the court heard from Andrew Nieuwenhof, a scuba diving instructor at Sundive and Bareham’s “buddy” during his dive. The buddy system involves pairing scuba divers so they can help each other.
“He was very reticent, it was very hard to get information from him,” Nieuwenhof said of his initial interactions with Bareham.
Counsel assisting the coroner, Rob Ranken, asked Nieuwenhof if Bareham smelt of alcohol or appeared to be under the influence of alcohol. Nieuwenhof said he did not.
Nieuwenhof told the court that Bareham appeared to be uncomfortable and so he “made doubly sure everything was attached correctly”, and that Bareham had tested his regulator and told Nieuwenhof it was fine.
He said once he got to the bottom of the ocean floor, he looked up and noticed Bareham was having equalisation issues, which he said was common for divers. Another scuba guide, Yuko Inagaki, helped Bareham.
“Everyone has to be comfortable before the take off,” Nieuwenhof told the court.
The court heard Nieuwenhof then moved with another couple that was on the scuba diving trip towards a shallow area known as the nursery.
Nieuwenhof said Bareham was his buddy but because Inagaki was with him there “no point for me to be with him”, so he moved to leave room. He told the court this circumstance was not unusual.
“I just moved forward a little bit,” he told the court.
Nieuwenhof said when he turned around he saw Inagaki swimming to get Bareham to the surface. The court heard that was the first time he noticed Bareham was facing another problem.
Earlier on Friday, the court heard that Inagaki swam to Bareham from about four metres away when she saw him lying horizontally and face up. She attempted to put the regulator, which had fallen out, back into his mouth, then took him to the surface.
Mark Robertson, an expert witness in scuba diving, agreed under questioning from Ranken that for the buddy system to work, everyone needed to know who their buddy was.
Robertson was repeatedly asked by Ranken if the buddy system had failed given Inagaki appeared to take over from Nieuwenhof’s role as buddy. He said it had not failed.
“Failure is if someone separates from the group and that didn’t happen,” he said.
Stephanie Rings, who worked at Sundive and performed maintenance on the regulator Bareham had used about four months before he died, gave evidence on Friday.
The court heard she had performed maintenance work on the equipment a number of times, but was not qualified to do maintenance work. The maintenance work on what would be Bareham’s regulator was not overseen by a person who had done the required training.
Under questioning from Ranken, Rings told the court she believed it was the Sundive directors’ idea that she train in servicing scuba diving equipment at the end of 2018.
The court heard she had completed half the course required by Mares – which manufactures the equipment – to perform maintenance work on scuba gear. She was later trained by Sundive’s sub-contracted technician, Tom Hughes, who had completed the course, and had overseen her doing maintenance work while she was learning.
Under questioning from the barrister representing Sundive and its directors, Patrick Barry, the court heard Rings had performed the same maintenance work she had done on the equipment that would later be used by Bareham an estimated 20 times.
She also agreed, to her knowledge, that divers who had tested the regulators she had serviced had not reported any problems to her.
At the end of the inquest’s proceedings on Friday, the court heard from Bareham’s sister Lauren, who sat alongside her father on the stand.
She spoke of the mental health challenges she has faced since her brother’s death, as well as their close relationship, and Bareham’s love for music.
“Music ran through Karl’s veins, it gave him purpose and joy,” she said.
“Not a moment passes where I don’t think of Karl,” she added, saying she often wonders what his last thoughts and feelings were.
“I just wish I could wake up to a text saying he loves me and he misses me.”
