Force welcomes findings after witness’s early-warning allegations are discredited

WeST Yorkshire Police welcomed the inquest findings, in particular the discrediting of a witness who suggested he tipped off police about extremism linked to a bookshop in Leeds.
By The Newsroom
Published 6th May 2011, 22:41 BST

Martin Gilbertson had claimed he walked into Holbeck police station in Leeds in 2003 with concerns about activities at the Iqra bookshop in Beeston which 7/7 bombers Mohammed Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer were trustees of.

He said he was asked to send the details by post instead and so sent a parcel to the police station.

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But coroner Lady Justice Hallett found: “He was not an accurate or reliable witness. His accounts of how and when he claims to have contacted the police have varied, not just with time, but quite radically during his short stay in the witness box. Despite a very thorough police investigation there is absolutely nothing to support his allegations and I do not accept them.”

West Yorkshire assistant chief constable John Parkinson said: “What the inquest did say after careful detailed analysis is that we worked closely in support of the Met Police and Security Service.

“One thing I particularly welcome was the fact that the Coroner has been able to put some of the rumour and speculation to rest in particular those claims of Martin Gilbertson. He was showed to be a fantasist and the claims that he warned police in advance of 7/7, were shown not to have happened. He wasted public money and time and caused inevitable distress.”

West Yorkshire Police did have contact with all four bombers for matters unrelated to terrorism.

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Mohammed Sidique Khan’s fingerprints were taken in April 1986 following his arrest for receiving stolen goods and his photograph was taken in February 1993 after he was cautioned for assault.

Shehzad Tanweer was arrested for burglary in April 1995 and public disorder in April 2004. He was photographed and his fingerprints and DNA were taken.

Habib Hussain was photographed and had his fingerprints taken after he was arrested for shoplifting in October 2004.

Jermaine Lindsay was stop-checked while driving in Huddersfield in March 2005, but this information was not discovered until after the bombings.