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MI5 must take stand at inquest into 7/7 victims, insist relatives
Justin Davenport and Kiran Randhawa25 Feb 2010
Families of victims of the London Tube bombings today demanded a “Diana-style” inquest and called for the intelligence services to be questioned.
Relatives want a major hearing, similar to the inquiries held for Princess Diana and Stockwell shooting victim Jean Charles de Menezes.
The plea was made at a pre-inquest hearing at the High Court today being held by the specially appointed coroner, Lady Justice Hallett. She was expected to update relatives on the progress of the inquiry and hear their views on the scope of the inquests.
Relatives will also call for inquests into the four suicide bombers to be heard separately from those of the 52 victims who died on 7 July, 2005. Graham Foulkes, whose son David, 22, was killed at Edgware Road, said: “I [want] a wide-ranging inquiry to cover all the questions the families want answered.
“I am concerned that the scope of the inquest will be too narrow and won't reflect a full picture of what happened. There are two precedents for this, the Diana inquest and the de Menezes inquest so I cannot see how they can say no.
“The state failed to prevent a terrorist attack when the terrorists were known to them so how can they not have a broader inquest?
“The key question for the families is how could the police and the intelligence services not stop this happening when they knew for four or five years that Mohammed Sidique Khan had the intention to commit such an attack?”
Representatives from up to 25 families are expected to attend the hearing. Sean Cassidy, whose son Ciaran died in the Russell Square blast, said: “We would love a Diana-style inquest, where everything is out and open in the public arena, but we won't get it.”
The postman, who was attending the hearing with his wife Veronica, 57, and daughter Lisa, 30, added his family are still hoping for a full public independent inquiry.
He said the intelligence agencies should be put on the stand to explain what went wrong on the day to help him understand why his 22-year-old son, a shop worker, was killed.
“We need to know what happened and why these bombers were allowed to kill our loved ones,” he said.
“They were all known to intelligence agencies, they were all on the radar, so they should be made to explain themselves in public, not in secret, as to how they allowed this to happen.”
Q & A
What is happening today ?
The coroner, Lady Justice Hallett, will hold a short hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice to update relatives on the progress of the inquest.
She will first have to decide whether the inquests should be resumed at all, likely to be a formality. Other issues include the scope of the inquests, and whether the inquests of the four suicide bombers should be held separately from those of the victims.
The hearing will be the first when relatives are able to give their views on what type of hearing they want.
Another question is whether the survivors should be counted as “interested persons”, entitled to be represented at the hearings.
What do the relatives want?
A more wide-ranging inquiry than the usual inquest, partly to make up for the refusal of the authorities to grant a public inquiry.
When happens next?
Another pre-inquest review in April when final decisions should be made. No date is set for the inquests but they are expected in the autumn.
What is a Diana-style inquest?
The relatives want the £9 million inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales to be a model for the hearing. It heard from 268 witnesses in 89 days.
Reader views (1)
Lets hope this thread gets pulled and the whole thing is unraveled. I guarantee that there will be some surprises to many, not to most.
Next we need an inquest on Dr David Kelly, whose files have been made secret for 70 years by the way.
- Matt, Manchester, 25/02/2010 17:33
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