Mystery surrounds how a teenage rugby player met his tragic death in a lake while on tour with his academy in the south of France.
Harry Sykes, aged 16, was on a college trip with his rugby team when he tragically died on September 5, 2018.
The body of the teenager, from Bradford, was recovered by divers from a lake near Carcassonne, Yorkshire Like reports.
However, an inquest heard how none of his team-mates from Halifax Elite Rugby Academy or anyone else saw the sequence of events unfold prior to his death that afternoon.
Harry, who was a strong swimmer, was last seen alive entering the water at approximately 1.30pm and it was only later at 6pm at the hotel that it was realised he was missing.
And to compound his family's misery, the hearing at Bradford Coroner's Court heard his heart and one of his lungs had been lost following a post mortem by the French authorities. It heard that there were three possibilities to account for this death. The popular teenager must have been hit, lost consciousness or suffered a fatal reaction to the freezing water.
Detective Inspector Tom Levitt of West Yorkshire Police who carried out an investigation into his death said the party of more than 35 students aged mainly between 16-18-years-old had got public transport from their hotel to the lake for what was supposed to be an enjoyable day in the sunshine.
They arrived between 12pm and 12.30pm and he said there was a loose arrangement that they should arrive back at the hotel by 6pm. The court heard that although it was a hot day the water was freezing and very murky.
One of the boys reported later that he had felt something 'squishy' under the water and it appeared that this was Tom's body.
Under questioning by counsel to the inquest, Philip Simms, Det Insp Levitt said: "One student has said they felt something. They put their hands under the water but it was murky and they couldn't see anything and didn't investigate it further to be fair.
They didn't make Lee and Gareth Greenwood, (the tour organisers), aware. They thought it was a possible jellyfish. There was a conversation between various students who brushed it off as a bit of a laugh, unfortunately."
He explained that it was only when a headcount took place at the hotel at 7pm that it was realised Harry was missing and eventually at 9pm that the French police were contacted.
He said that both Lee and Gareth, who both have criminal convictions from years ago for other unrelated matters, were arrested and interviewed regarding potential gross negligence/manslaughter charges. However, the Crown Prosecution Service decided that there was insufficient evidence to pursue the matter.
Barrister Richard Copnall, who is representing Harry's mother Natasha Burton and his stepfather Daniel Burton, asked Det Insp Levitt whether he thought the bar had been reached for a criminal prosecution. He replied: "I definitely thought there was a case to answer."
He then asked what Lee and Gareth were doing from 1.30pm. He said they were in a restaurant bar with no clear sight of what was going on in the man-made lake.
And he said a tragedy had only narrowly averted on a previous tour in 2017 when a child, (Sebastien Russo), got into difficulties and Lee had to rescue him because he was struggling.
The hearing continues and is expected to last several more days.
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