The 'Bugaled Breizh' - Answers to be gained after too many years?

On the 25th November 2019 at Truro Crown Court there is to be a new two week legal inquest to establish the facts behind the sinking of the Breton fishing vessel, the Bugaled-Breizh (Sons of Brittany).

One of the sons of the lost fishermen will also be there to testify.

The five-strong crew of the Bugaled Breizh drowned when it went down off the Cornish coast in January 2004.

Crew members' families claim a submarine was responsible, but that has been denied by British authorities and rejected by French courts.

The two-week hearing into the deaths of Pascal Le Floch and Yves Gloaguen has been listed to start on 25 November.

Relatives believe the trawler was dragged underwater 14 miles off the Lizard Peninsula when a submarine became snagged in its nets.

The sinking happened a day before Nato military exercises officially began in the area.

The UK's Ministry of Defence has always denied involvement.

France's top judicial court, the Court of Cassation, said in 2006 there was no evidence to support the submarine claim, nor that it was a fishing accident.

Acting Chief Cornwall Coroner Andrew Cox said the central issue was still to determine how the vessel sank for the inquest and the "case needs the pressure putting on" because of a "pressing need to move this matter on" after so long.

A well respected member of the Newlyn harbour and fishing community said, "I remember the Bugalid Breizh well as she was a regular in Newlyn - a well found vessel that should never have sunk in the conditions at the time. An avoidable tragedy that must be subject to a rigorous examination of the truth.Disgraceful that the bereaved have been put through the terrible process of lies and denial that they have.They must be given closure".

We express solidarity with our Breton Brothers and Sisters and sympathy for the families of those fishermen whose many questions have gone unanswered.