Death of Frenchman living in Sark being investigated

An inquest into the death of Cyrille Douchin is set to take place in Winchester in November, but officers from Hampshire & Isle Of Wight Constabulary are still trying to piece together the details of the death of the 29-year-old.

His body, wearing a full black wetsuit, with boots and gloves, was found off Devon by a cruise ship headed for Southampton on 23 September 2021.

It is believed he entered the water in Sark on or shortly after 25 August 2021, possibly in a kayak or similar craft.

Constabulary review officer Doug Utting said that Mr Douchin’s absence from a rented property on the island following his disappearance was noted at the time by a neighbour, who noticed that a number of Mr Douchin’s possessions, including his bicycle – a Dawes mountain bike – were also missing from the property.

Mr Utting continued by saying that, around the same time, a Sark resident posted on the ‘Sark Classified’ Facebook page stating that one of two kayaks he kept in Creux Harbour had gone missing.

A member of the public, who detectives are keen to speak to, later found the bike on 4 September 2021 in Creux Harbour area.

Because of the location of the bike, coupled with the fact that Mr Douchin had left his property with many of his possessions, Mr Utting said it had been concluded by local police at the time that he had simply returned home to France, and so no missing person report was ever filed.

The process of formally identifying Mr Douchin’s body was only completed in May this year following assistance from oceanographers, forensic experts and Interpol, and officers have since begun piecing together his final movements on Sark, where he had been living for approximately nine months.

This has included liaising with Bailiwick police officers.

Mr Utting added that officers had been in touch with Mr Douchin’s family since the identification of his body.

He said they were shocked to hear of his death, but the fact that they had not heard from him in two-and-a-half years had not concerned them because he ‘liked his own space’.

At that time in 2021, the Bailiwick borders had been open to the UK since 1 July, subject to travellers having been fully vaccinated.

People wanting to travel from the UK to France needed to be vaccinated or have a strong reason to visit and present a negative Covid test.

An inquest into the death is set to commence in Winchester on 27 November.

Anyone with information can submit this to Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary by going to https://www.hampshire.police.uk/contact/af/contact-us-forms/provide-more-information-to-be-added-to-a-crime-report/ and quoting the reference 44210383426.