GRIEVING parents want to know why a boat crew allegedly deleted photos of the moments before their daughter took part in a fatal dive.

Bethany Farrell, 23, from Colchester, was on a trip to Australia when she died on her introductory scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef, on February 17.

Two of her friends tried to get pictures of the diving trip, at Blue Pearl Bay, on Hayman Island, but they were told the images, which could have been evidence in the investigation into the tragedy, had been deleted.

Bethany’s dad, Patrick Farrell, 47, of Bergholt Road, Colchester said the loss of photographs was incomprehensible.

He added: “There is no excuse. Grave mistakes have been made. Ultimately her life was in their hands. Now she’s dead.

“I don’t want to go on a witch hunt, but this will go to an inquest. There is no clarity about what happened.

“We’re heartbroken and will do anything to get to the truth.”

Investigators from Whitsunday water police and dive experts from Workplace Health and Safety are still trying to piece together a timeline.

Officers are yet to finalise a report to the coroner who can order an inquest and refer matters for criminal proceedings.

Bethany, a Southampton Solent university graduate, became separated from her instructor and a fellow novice diver just minutes into a dive where underwater visibility was 2m.

Nearly half an hour later, the competent swimmer was found dead on the sea floor at 11m. A post mortem examination showed she died by drowning. The investigators have told Mr Farrell it could take most of the year to reach a conclusion as to what happened. A criminal investigation could take place if deemed necessary.

Charter boat operator Airlie Beachbased Wings Diving Adventures did not respond to an e-mail from the Gazette for comment.

Col McKenzie, Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators chief, who represents the dive boat industry, said he had no idea why a crew would have deleted photos of the day.

He said: “That will be thoroughly examined by authorities. As an industry we have the tightest rules in the world on ‘intro’ or ‘resort’ diving.’’ Resort or introductory dives are controversial among professional divers, because they involve little training beyond a 30-minute briefing before taking novices under water.

Bethany had been in Australia for one week and had just met up with friends for the first leg of a year-long holiday.

She posted a series of images about her adventures on Instagram in the days before her death.

Bethany’s mum Caron, 50, had only spoken to her daughter the day before, via Skype, when she had excitedly told her of her plans.

Pictures were taken of Bethany with snorkelling equipment before she had gone scuba diving.

Before she left for the trip, Bethany had worked at Laura Ashley in Colchester.

She joined a friend from her days at Colchester’s Gilberd School and another from her time Colchester Sixth Form College days, who had been in Australia for a few months.

Her funeral took place in Colchester last month.