Fury of 7/7 relatives as bombers share same inquests

RELATIVES of the 52 people killed in the 7/7 London bombings reacted with anger yesterday after they were told the inquests will also include the legal examination of the deaths of the four suicide bombers who killed them.

Lady Justice Hallett, the specially appointed coroner, said that the long delayed hearings would also cover the deaths of Mohammad Sidique Khan and his accomplices.

Graham Foulkes, whose son David, 22, died in the attacks, told The Times: "She told us that the inquests will have to include the bombers because it was the same event. I'm absolutely gutted about that. I hadn't expected that at all."

The families were also upset to learn that the inquests, to be held next year, could take place in partial secrecy under controversial new legislation and that they were not necessarily entitled to legal aid to appoint lawyers.

Representatives of some of the families were called to a meeting with Lady Hallett, an Appeal Court judge, in London and they emerged with concerns that she had been unable to answer many questions. The families have campaigned unsuccessfully for a public inquiry into the bombings to answer questions about what security services knew of Khan and his fellow terrorists.

The Government has repeatedly rejected their request and the relatives believed that the inquests might be their last chance to ask why Khan, who was caught up in a MI5 surveillance operation on another terrorist cell, was able to remain free to kill their loved ones.

But under the Coroners and Justice Act, which became law earlier this month, the Government can request secret hearings on the ground of national security. One relative asked the judge if that meant the inquests were going to be a "whitewash".

Mr Foulkes said: "She was very keen to impress on us that she was a senior judge, that she was her own woman and would not be told how to conduct the inquest. But she was forced to admit she had never conducted an inquest before and, when asked about the new law, told us she had not read the legislation."

Ministers have insisted that secret inquests will happen only in a "tiny number" of cases and that the interests of the families concerned will be protected. A last-minute concession, giving the Lord Chief Justice a veto on secrecy, was introduced to ensure the Bill's passage through the House of Lords.

Mr Foulkes said the news that the inquests into the deaths of the bombers - Khan, Shezhad Tanweer, Hasib Hussain and Jermaine Lindsay - would take place in the same forum as the victims' inquests was a "bolt from the blue". He added: "The temperature dropped in the room. There was just shock. People were very close to tears."

Grahame Russell, whose son Philip died in the Tavistock Square bus bomb, said: "I'm aggrieved that the inquest on my son is being shared with the man who murdered him. That hurts."

The Australian