Video special report: Coroner criticises MI5 over 7/7 attack failings

The 7/7 coroner sharply criticised MI5 yesterday as she ruled that the emergency services could not have saved any of those who died in the attacks.
By The Newsroom
Published 7th May 2011, 00:09 BST

Lady Justice Hallett said the 52 victims of the July 2005 London bombings were unlawfully killed by four Muslim extremists and rejected claims that security agency failings caused or contributed to their deaths.

But she raised serious concerns about how MI5 investigates and prioritises suspects, warning that poor record-keeping could allow flawed decisions to slip through with “dire consequences”.

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Families of those killed in the suicide attacks on three Tube trains and a double-decker bus welcomed the coroner’s long-awaited findings though some said they still had unanswered questions and called for a wider-ranging independent inquiry.

Lady Justice Hallett made nine recommendations for the Security Service, the emergency services and Transport for London aimed at preventing other deaths in the future.

The bombings carried out by Mohammed Sidique Khan, 30, Shezhad Tanweer, 22, Hasib Hussain, 18, and Jermaine Lindsay, 19, were the worst single terrorist atrocity on British soil.

The £4.5m inquest at the Royal Courts of Justice in London began in October and heard five months of harrowing testimony before closing its evidence sessions in March.

Lady Justice Hallett, an appeal court judge appointed to hear the inquest, revealed her findings yesterday in front of survivors and some 70 tearful relatives.