Family seeks closure after skull is found

A FISHERMAN friend of two brothers who died when their boat sank in the North Sea more then two-and-a-half years ago has netted a small piece of skull bone belonging to one of the missing men.

Brothers Brian Allison and Robert Temple went missing in November 2004 when their vessel, the Jann Denise II, sank off the coast near Tynemouth.

The wreckage was discovered but no trace was ever found of the two fishermen.

Last December, a fishermen, a friend of the two men, netted a small piece of cranium bone in his catch.

Tests confirmed it belonged to Mr Allison, 27, from Fencehouses near Sunderland. His mother Roseann Allison was given the news on Tuesday, which would have been Mr Temple’s 37th birthday. She hopes it will give the family some closure.

“I was shocked to hear Brian had been found but, at the same time, it felt like a nice shock. It felt like Brian had come home on Robert’s birthday,” she said.

“We hope this will give us some closure and we plan to have a funeral service for Brian once all the unofficial work is complete.”

A police spokesman said: “A fisherman ... had gone out in the North Sea around four or five miles from the Tynemouth coast. He took his catch in to North Shields where he found a bone in his nets.

“We sent it to a pathologist and it was confirmed the bone was human and identified as part of a cranium. After that it was sent for carbon dating and forensic tests where it was confirmed it belonged to Mr Allison.

“The family were notified of the discovery on the 37th birthday of Robert, who is still missing.”