Body of superyacht chef recovered – here’s who else was on board
The body found in the Bayesian superyacht search operation is that of chef Recaldo Thomas, the Italian coastguard has confirmed to Sky News.
Mr Thomas was one of the 22 people on board the superyacht that sank off the coast of Sicily in the early hours of Monday.
The British-flagged vessel named Bayesian was carrying 12 passengers and 10 members of crew when it got into difficulty at around 4.30am, the Italian coastguard said.
Six people are missing and another 15 were rescued. Here’s what we know about who was on board.
Follow latest on superyacht sinking: Captain speaks for first time
Mike Lynch
Pic: Reuters
British technology tycoon Mike Lynch is missing following the sinking of the yacht, which his family are understood to own.
Raised in Ilford, east London by Irish parents, the 59-year-old made millions with the software company Autonomy he set up in 1996.
He has an estimated net worth of £852m, according to the 2023 Sunday Times Rich List.
Off the back of Automomy’s global success, Mr Lynch was given the roles of science adviser to former prime minister David Cameron and non-executive director of the BBC.
The Cambridge maths and sciences graduate sold the firm for £8.64bn to US giant Hewlett Packard (HP) in 2011.
Dubbed the “British Bill Gates”, Mr Lynch has been in the headlines in recent months over a high-profile fraud case related to the sale of Autonomy to HP in 2011.
HP accused him of deliberately overstating the value of the company before it was acquired by the American technology firm. Mr Lynch denied any wrongdoing.
In June, a US jury cleared him of all charges.
Read more:
Lynch’s co-defendant dies days before yacht disaster
Hannah Lynch
Mr Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah Lynch was also on board the yacht and is missing.
She was on holiday with her parents, having secured a place to study English at the University of Oxford, according to reports.
Her former school, Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith, west London, said they are “incredibly shocked by the news that Hannah and her father are among those missing in this tragic incident”.
Angela Bacares
Mr Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares was on board the yacht and was rescued. She confirmed to Italian media that her husband and daughter are missing.
The 57-year-old said she and Mr Lynch were awoken by the boat “tilting” at 4am – half an hour before it sank.
Jonathan Bloomer
Pic: Hiscox/ Linkedin
Jonathan Bloomer, the chairman of investment bank Morgan Stanley International, was on board the yacht and is missing.
According to the Financial Times, Mr Bloomer appeared as a defence witness for Mr Lynch during his US criminal trial and the pair are believed to be good friends. He also chaired Autonomy’s audit committee.
The 70-year-old was the chief executive of UK-Hong Kong insurer Prudential until he was ousted by the board in 2005.
He is also chairman of the insurance provider Hiscox, which confirmed he is missing.
Judy Bloomer
Mr Bloomer’s wife Judy was also on board the yacht and is missing.
Hiscox said in its statement: “Our thoughts are with all those affected, in particular our chair, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife Judy, who are among the missing.”
Mrs Bloomer is on the board of The Eve Appeal charity, which focuses on gynaecological cancers.
The charity described her as a “brilliant champion for women’s health and medical research… an incredible supporter, committee member, and trustee of our charity for over 20 years”.
Read more:
‘Alarming’ potential cause of superyacht disaster
What we know about superyacht that sank
Recaldo Thomas
The yacht’s on-board chef Recaldo Thomas is the only person who is confirmed dead, the Italian Coastguard has confirmed to Sky News.
He was Canadian-Antiguan and part of the crew of the Bayesian.
The Palermo Port Authority had earlier told Canadian broadcaster CBC News his body had been recovered from the wreckage.
Chris Morvillo
Pic: Clifford Chance handout
US lawyer Chris Morvillo is missing from the yacht, his employers confirmed.
The father-of-two worked on Mr Lynch’s US fraud trial and is a partner of law firm Clifford Chance’s US branch.
Mr Morvillo was assistant attorney for the Southern District of New York between 1995 and 2005 and worked on the terrorist investigation into the 9/11 attacks.
In a recent LinkedIn post, he thanked the legal team that helped win Mr Lynch’s trial.
Signing off the post, he said: “And, finally, a huge thank you to my patient and incredible wife, Neda Morvillo, and my two strong, brilliant, and beautiful daughters, Sabrina Morvillo and Sophia Morvillo.
“None of this would have been possible without your love and support. I am so glad to be home. And they all lived happily ever after….”
Neda Morvillo
Neda and Chris Morvillo Pic: Patrick McMullan/Getty
Mr Morvillo’s wife Neda was also on board the yacht and is unaccounted for.
The 57-year-old has a luxury jewellery brand, which she runs under her maiden name Neda Nassiri.
Her husband’s firm Clifford Chance said in a statement: “Our thoughts are with our partner, Christopher Morvillo, and his wife Neda who are among the missing.”
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Ayla Ronald
Ayla Ronald. Pic: Clifford Chance
Ayla Ronald, a senior associate at Clifford Chance, survived the yacht disaster, the law firm confirmed.
The 36-year-old worked alongside Chris Morvillo in helping defend Mike Lynch in court.
Clifford Chance said in a statement: “Our utmost priority is providing support to the family as well as our colleague Ayla Ronald, who together with her partner, thankfully survived the incident.”
She is originally from Christchurch, New Zealand, but lives in London, her father told local media there.
He said she was left “very shaken” but “she and her partner are alive”.
Charlotte Golunski
Charlotte Golunski was on board the yacht and was rescued along with her one-year-old daughter, Sofia.
She spoke to Italian newspaper La Repubblica, confirming she survived the yacht sinking and told how she kept her daughter alive after she was rescued.
“I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning,” she said.
“It was all dark. In the water I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I screamed for help but all I could hear around me was the screams of others.”
The 35-year-old is a partner at one of Mr Lynch’s firms – Invoke Capital – and has worked there since 2012, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She also worked at Hewlett Packard, which acquired Autonomy in 2011, for 11 months.
Before that, she studied history at the University of Oxford.
James Emsley
Ms Golunski’s partner James Emsley was also rescued from the yacht, according to Sicily’s civil protection agency.
The 36-year-old is the father of her one-year-old daughter.
James Calfield
The 51-year-old captain of the yacht spoke to Italian newspaper La Repubblica after he was rescued.
Mr Calfield, from New Zealand, was taken for treatment at the Termini Imerese emergency unit, where he told the newspaper: “We didn’t see it coming.”
Leah Randall
Pic: Reuters
Leah Randall was part of the Bayesian crew and survived the sinking.
She was pictured going ashore in Porticello on Monday morning and is from South Africa.
Her mother Heidi told Sky News said she was “beyond relieved that my daughter’s life was spared by the grace of God”.
“It doesn’t make it any easier living with the heartache of those who have lost their lives [or are] missing. My very deepest condolences to the chef’s family as they formed a great friendship,” she said.
Katja Chicken
Pic: Reuters
Katja Chicken was another South African member of crew on board the Bayesian and was pictured being brought to safety in Porticello on Monday.
Leo Eppel
Leo Eppel. Pic: Reuters
The Italian coastguard confirmed on Tuesday evening that Leo Eppel, a crew member, also survived the yacht sinking.
UK
UK on ‘slippery slope’ to ‘death on demand’, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood warns ahead of assisted dying vote
The UK is on a “slippery slope towards death on demand”, according to the justice secretary ahead of a historic Commons vote on assisted dying.
In a letter to her constituents, Shabana Mahmood said she was “profoundly concerned” about the legislation.
“Sadly, recent scandals – such as Hillsborough, infected blood and the Post Office Horizon – have reminded us that the state and those acting on its behalf are not always benign,” she wrote.
“I have always held the view that, for this reason, the state should serve a clear role. It should protect and preserve life, not take it away.
“The state should never offer death as a service.”
Analysis: Justice secretary’s intervention is potentially embarrassing for the PM
On 29 November, MPs will be asked to consider whether to legalise assisted dying, through Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
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Minister ‘leans’ to assisted dying bill
Details of the legislation were published last week, including confirmation the medicine that will end a patient’s life will need to be self-administered and people must be terminally ill and expected to die within six months.
Ms Mahmood, however, said “predictions about life expectancy are often inaccurate”.
“Doctors can only predict a date of death, with any real certainty, in the final days of life,” she said. “The judgment as to who can and cannot be considered for assisted suicide will therefore be subjective and imprecise.”
Read more: Gordon Brown says assisted dying should not be legalised
Under the Labour MP’s proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.
The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.
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Details of end of life bill released
Read more: Where does the cabinet stand on assisted dying?
However, Ms Mahmood said she was concerned the legislation could “pressure” some into ending their lives.
“It cannot be overstated what a profound shift in our culture assisted suicide will herald,” she wrote.
“In my view, the greatest risk of all is the pressure the elderly, vulnerable, sick or disabled may place upon themselves.”
Kim Leadbeater waits to present the Assisted Dying Bill. File pic: House of Commons/Reuters
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who put forward the bill, said some of the points Ms Mahmood raised have been answered “in the the thorough drafting and presentation of the bill”.
“The strict eligibility criteria make it very clear that we are only talking about people who are already dying,” she said.
“That is why the bill is called the ‘Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill’; its scope cannot be changed and clearly does not include any other group of people.
“The bill would give dying people the autonomy, dignity and choice to shorten their death if they wish.”
In response to concerns Ms Mahmood raised about patients being coerced into choosing assisted death, Ms Leadbeater said she has consulted widely with doctors and judges.
“Those I have spoken to tell me that they are well equipped to ask the right questions to detect coercion and to ascertain a person’s genuine wishes. It is an integral part of their work,” she said.
In an increasingly fractious debate around the topic, multiple Labour MPs have voiced their concerns.
In a letter to ministers on 3 October, the Cabinet Secretary Simon Case confirmed “the Prime Minister has decided to set aside collective responsibility on the merits of this bill” and that the government would “therefore remain neutral on the passage of the Bill and on the matter of assisted dying”.
The UK will “set out a path” to lift defence spending to 2.5% of national income in the spring, the prime minister has said, finally offering a timeframe for an announcement on the long-awaited hike after mounting criticism.
Sir Keir Starmer gave the date during a phone call with Mark Rutte, the secretary general of NATO, in the wake of threats by Moscow to target UK and US military facilities following a decision by London and Washington to let Ukraine fire their missiles inside Russia.
There was no clarity though on when the 2.5% level will be achieved. The UK says it currently spends around 2.3% of GDP on defence.
Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sir Keir Starmer and NATO boss Mark Rutte in October. Pic: PA
Ukraine war latest: Follow live updates
A spokeswoman for Downing Street said that the two men “began by discussing the situation in Ukraine and reiterated the importance of putting the country in the strongest possible position going into the winter”.
They also talked about the deployment of thousands of North Korean soldiers to fight alongside Russia.
“The prime minister underscored the need for all NATO countries to step up in support of our collective defence and updated on the government’s progress on the strategic defence review,” the spokeswoman said.
“His government would set out the path to 2.5% in the spring.”
The defence review will also be published in the spring.
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While a date for an announcement on 2.5% will be welcomed by the Ministry of Defence, analysts have long warned that such an increase is still well below the amount that is needed to rebuild the armed forces after decades of decline to meet growing global threats from Russia, an increasingly assertive China, North Korea and Iran.
They say the UK needs to be aiming to hit at least 3% – probably higher.
With Donald Trump returning to the White House, there will be significantly more pressure on the UK and other European NATO allies to accelerate increases in defence spending.
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