Mercy appeal over trawler tragedy

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The mother of a fisherman who died in an accident off the County Down coast has urged a judge not to jail the skipper of his trawler.

Maureen Bogues' son Conor was one of two crew who died when the Greenhill hit rocks near Ardglass harbour.

She said skipper Conrad Zych had "suffered enough" since the tragedy.

Zych, 28, of Downpatrick Road, admitted the manslaughter of crew members Mr Bogues, 24, and Donall Gibson, 22. He will be sentenced on Thursday.

The skipper was the only survivor of the 2006 sinking. Mr Gibson's body was recovered two days later but Mr Bogues remains have never been found.

As the case was opened against Zych at Downpatrick Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, on Monday Mrs Bogues addressed to the court.

The mother-of-three not only lost her son, but 11 months after the sinking her husband, Paul, was killed as he stood at the harbour talking to local fishermen.

The grieving father was struck by a freak wave which caused him to fall and hit his head.

Addressing Mr Justice Hart, Mrs Bogues told the court her son had been a fisherman for six years prior to the accident and was a friend of the captain.

The boat sank near Ardglass in January 2006

"I just feel all the families have been through enough, including Conrad's family and Conrad himself. I think it should just end here and you should let him go home to his family," she said.

Mrs Bogues said Conrad has "suffered enough" and would have to live with the deaths of his two friends and colleagues "for the rest of his life."

The court heard the Greenhill with the three men on board was returning to the harbour with a catch of prawns on board when it hit rocks.

As skipper of the vessel, Zych should have been keeping guard in the wheelhouse but when the vessel hit the rocks he was helping Mr Gibson and Mr Bogues sort the catch out on the deck.

None of the men were wearing life-jackets.