In
Court Room
76, of the
Royal Court of Justice
in London, the families' wait could finally come to an end on Tuesday, October 12.
For the first time since the sinking of the Bugaled Breizh, on January 15, 2004, Andrew Coles, commander of the submarine suspect n ° 1 in the eyes of the victims, the
HMS Turbulent
, will be heard by the courts.
According to one of the hypotheses, favored by families, the submersible would have dragged the Breton trawler through the bottom in 37 seconds.
Read also Shipwreck of the Bugaled Breizh in 2004: was the Breton trawler sunk by a submarine?
Despite the dismissal in France in 2016, the United Kingdom launched legal proceedings on October 4, 2021, the
inquest,
"
an investigation which aims to shed light on the circumstances of a violent and unexplained death."
Two bodies were recovered from British waters, which justifies this procedure,
”explains Gaspard de Monclin, the victims' lawyer.
Forty witnesses will be questioned by Judge Nigel Lickley before he delivers his conclusions on Friday, October 22.
Since Thursday, soldiers who participated in the research appear.
The testimony of a helicopter pilot in the Royal Air Force who participated in the search, Martin Brooman confirmed the track of the submarine.
He returned to the presence of the
Dolfjin
, a Dutch submersible near the site of the sinking, and to the comments raised by its presence among the crew.
"
We discussed that it was not good to see a submarine near a sinking fishing boat
."
Then he added: "
I cannot speculate on what happened that day, but the submarines do pose a threat to the trawlers who drag their nets
".
The strange statements of Andrew Coles
On Friday, the representative of the British Ministry of Defense laid down his conditions before the testimonies of the sailors of the
Royal Navy.
No parallel should be drawn with the Karen affair - a trawler that nearly sank off the coast of Northern Ireland because a submarine had hooked its net in 2015. The latter had not emerged to help fisherman. At first, the Defense denied responsibility before admitting, five months later, that a submarine was in the area.
When the Bugaled Breizh sank, two submarine exercises were taking place, the
British Navy
Thursday War
and NATO's Aswex04. The families suspect the British
Turbulent
to be the culprit of the sinking. What the British navy vigorously denies, arguing that he was docked that day. But "
we have official messages from the British Navy and NATO saying that he was not at the dock, that he was in the area of the accident,
" says Me Dominique Tricaud, one of the family lawyers.
"
The judge will also oblige the British ministry to present the
Turbulent's
logbook
for the whole week of the tragedy
", rejoices Gaspard De Monclin, the other lawyer of the families, who asked for satellite images to prove the presence of the deputy. sailor at the dock. Another "
cluster of clues
" pointing to the
Turbulent
. Reporters from the
Telegram
had asked Andrew Coles if he had sent messages on the 15th, when he was supposed to be docked. He replied in the affirmative. The lawyers asked for the content, but the defense sent the messages dating ... from the 16th, when the submarine should have been at sea. "
I banged my fist on the table to get the messages of the 15th, but I was told that they are protected by secrecy
, ”regrets Gaspard de Monclin.
In 2013, the owner of the Bugaled Breizh, Michel Douce, and Thierry Lemétayer, the son of one of the victims, were able to discuss with Andrew Coles following a screening of the
Silent Killer,
a film that implicates the
Turbulent .
Coles, who came anonymously, assured
"eye to eye
" that his building has nothing to do with it.
During the trial, audio recordings of another submarine, the Dutch
Dolfjin
will also be played.
The latter had never been heard.
Of these records, only "
10 to 20%
".
On the French side, the regional operational surveillance and rescue center at Cap Gris-Nez had suffered a communications recording failure for several hours after the sinking.
In addition, Andrew Coles was retired from the
Royal Navy
in 2010 after narrowly escaping court martial.
He had run aground on a beach on the Isle of Skye, Scotland,
HMS Astute
, the new flagship of the English submarine fleet.