Emiliano Sala’s grieving mother has broken her silence for the first time since her son’s tragic death in a plane crash while travelling from Nantes to Cardiff three years ago.

Mercedes Carina Taffarel said that “the plane was not in good condition” and that her son “was betrayed” but that she wants “to believe that justice is going to be done”.

She added that she wants “to trust Europe, I want to trust England”.

Speaking publicly for the first time since her son’s tragic death three years ago, Mercedes, who still plans to go to Europe for the final part of the trial – failing that, her son Dario will reportedly attend – told local media outlet El Litoral in an exclusive interview about the moment she found out that her son Emiliano was missing.

She reportedly said: “We were in my house and my son Dario gave a terrifying scream… That scream still echoes in my ears, I can’t get it out, I feel it every moment… Dario yells at me ‘Mum, Emiliano has disappeared!’… Very distressing… I did not know what to do, I couldn’t believe it, it seemed like a lie to me… I refused to believe it.”

Speaking about the EUR 17 million that Cardiff never paid for the athlete’s transfer fee, Mercedes said: “They have to give me everything my son deserved… And that’s why I’m also going to fight, because it’s what he would have wanted, for me to fight for what belongs to him.”

Speaking about Emiliano, she said: “Emi trusted people a lot, he was too good. A loving, divine son. The last thing he said to me before he got on the plane was that he was about to board and that he would talk to me when he got to Cardiff. No one will return my son to me, but I want those who organised that flight to pay.”

An inquest into the death of the Argentine football player is set to begin with a full jury on 14th February.