English diver's family asked to identify body

The family of Paul Swain, the British diver whose corpse was recovered from the bowels of the scuttled ship Xlendi on Monday, is expected to fly to Malta to identify the body.

The autopsy on the 49-year-old engineer and part-time diving instructor can only be carried out once his family have identified him, sources said yesterday.

Mr Swain's father, Tom, told The Northern Echo his family was discussing which family member will be flying to Malta to make the identification.

The father of seven, from Greatham in the North-East of England, said: "We are trying to sort out who is going to go to Malta at the moment... In the next week or so someone will be flying out. I think it will be one of the boys, one of Paul's brothers.

"It's very difficult but, at least, we know we are going to have him back home now. It's bad when we haven't got anyone to grieve over or have a funeral for," he said, reacting to the discovery of his son's body.

Mr Swain was last seen by a buddy entering a hatch leading into the former cafeteria of the scuttled boat that once served as a Gozo Channel ferry off Xatt l-Aħmar in Mġarr, Gozo, on November 3.

His body was found on Saturday, partly buried in silt, by the Civil Protection Department.

It took three days to recover it from the depths of the wreck because of the darkness and floating silt inside the chamber he was found in. Mr Swain's equipment, brought ashore by the CPD on Sunday, was expected to be handed over to experts appointed by the courts in the coming days.

Mr Swain, who came to Malta to explore the Xlendi with nine others, lived in Low Grange with his long-time fiancée Louise Walsh.