Diver, 14, sank after air ran out

Louis Price was a qualified diver

A 14-year-old boy died on a diving trip when he ran out of air and sank, an inquest heard.

Louis Price, from Newport, south Wales, reached the surface with his father Stephen when they were diving off Berry Head in Devon in August.

But he then lost buoyancy when the air ran out and he was dragged under.

A police diving expert said Louis' air tank would have given him only two minutes more than the 20-minute dive and an open verdict was recorded.

Louis had been on holiday in Devon with his family when they went out diving off Berry Head, the Torquay inquest was told.

Louis's father Stephen said they dived for 20 minutes looking for scallops and crabs.

He said his son signalled to go up, adding: "He looked fine and not distressed.

"I could see him two or three feet behind me and when I was a couple of feet from the surface, he looked fine."

When I realised he was missing I felt absolutely sick

Tracey Price

Louis's mother Tracey said: "I saw him surface next to Stephen about two or three seconds after him. He did not look in distress and just leaned back in the water five feet behind Stephen.

"I went to help start the boat and when I looked back I could not see him.

"When I realised he was missing I felt absolutely sick and extremely panicked. I thought he must have drifted away."

Police diving expert Pc Peter Gough said the boy only had a nine litre cylinder compared to his father's 15 litre tank and so would have had just 22 and a half minutes at the 20m (65ft) deep seabed.

He said it was not possible to work out exactly how long he had been there because his father was not carrying a dive computer.

He said once his air ran out he would have had no buoyancy because of the weight of his kit.

An open verdict was recorded into his death of Louis, a qualified open water diver.

Coroner Ian Arrow said: "The telling feature is there was no air in his tank.

"We do not know the precise explanation."