Inquest into French fishermen's deaths near Cornwall to consider submarine involvement

An inquest into the deaths of two French fishermen who were killed when their vessel capsized off the Cornish coast will consider whether submarines may have been involved.

All five Frenchmen on board lost their lives when the Bugaled Breizh went down 14 miles off the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall on January 15 2004.

Only the bodies of French nationals Yves Marie Gloaguen, 45, and Pascal Lucien Le Floch, 49, were recovered in the search and rescue operation in the hours after the first distress calls were received.

An empty life raft was also found.

An inquest into their deaths resumed at the High Court in London on Monday (4 October), presided over by Judge Nigel Lickley QC acting as a coroner.

The fact their bodies were brought back to the Royal Cornwall Hospital means that under English law an inquest into their deaths must be held here.

The body of a third man, Patrick Gloaguen, 35, was recovered during a salvage operation to raise the Bugaled Breizh but was taken to France, and his death is therefore not the subject of an inquest.

The bodies of the two remaining crew members, Georges Lemetayer, 60, and Eric Guillamet, 42, were never found.

The question of whether submarines preparing for Nato training exercises may have been involved in the tragedy was raised repeatedly during a long-running investigation by the French authorities.

It has been suggested a submarine may have become entangled in the Bugaled Breizh's trawling gear, causing it to capsize.

But in 2016, France's top judicial court confirmed the closure of its investigation after finding no evidence to support the theory, nor the possibility the vessel sank due to a fishing accident.

In his opening remarks, Judge Lickley said: "The inquest should consider in proper detail the question of how the Bugaled Breizh came to sink, as part of that exercise we should look at whether any submarines might have been involved."

Judge Lickley said despite not being able to make findings of criminal or civil liability, if the evidence did point to another vessel being involved in the sinking "then I can say so".

"My determinations cannot appear to determine any question of criminal liability of a named person or any question of civil liability at all," Judge Lickley said.

"However, these legal rules do not prevent me giving a full account of the cause of the deaths in this case. For example, if evidence were to emerge implicating any other vessel in the deaths, I can say so."

The court heard there had been three submarines operating in the area at the time the vessel went down.

Thierry Lemetayer, the son of Georges Lemetayer, said in a statement at the beginning of the inquest that he hoped it would "light a little red light in the heads of European submarine commanders so they take into account the presence of other boats when doing their exercises".

The inquest, which is scheduled to last three weeks, continues.