Killer's widow demands legal aid for inquest

Hasina Patel, whose husband was Dewsbury plot mastermind Mohammed Sidique Khan, is challenging the refusal to provide her with funding.

Yesterday her QC, Ian Wise, told Lord Justice Thomas and Mr Justice Silber, sitting at the High Court in London, that the "important" question for them was whether the decision which was made in May was "rational and lawful".

He said: "If such funding were to be granted she would be in a position to make representations to the coroner as to why the inquest into the death of her husband should be resumed and whether it should be joined to the inquests into the deaths of the 52 victims of the bombings."

He emphasised that her judicial review application was not about the judges being asked to adjudicate on the "merits" of any application to resume the inquest into the death of her husband, or whether "any such inquest should be joined to the ongoing inquests due to begin on October 11 this year".

The barrister added that those "are matters for the coroner".

It emerged in April that ministers had rejected two applications by relatives after ruling they did not meet the criteria for public funding for their lawyers.

The Government has agreed that legal aid will be offered to the families of the four 7/7 bombers' 52 innocent victims of the attacks in 2005.

Suicide bombers Khan, 30, Hasib Hussain, 18, Shehzad Tanweer, 22, and Jermaine Lindsay, 19, met at Luton station on the morning of July 7 2005.

They took a train to King's Cross in London, then hugged and separated to carry out their deadly missions.

Within three minutes, at 8.50am, Tanweer detonated his bomb at Aldgate, Khan set his device off at Edgware Road and Lindsay blew himself up between King's Cross and Russell Square.

Hussain detonated his device on board the number 30 bus at Tavistock Square at 9.47am.

As well as killing themselves and 52 others, the bombers, who all had links to Yorkshire, injured more than 700 people.

The Ministry of Justice spokesman said it would be inappropriate to comment further on continuing proceedings.

Ms Patel, who has since remarried, was not present in court yesterday.

After hearing legal argument from both sides, the judges reserved their decision.

Lord Justice Thomas said they was hoped a ruling could be given tomorrow afternoon.

In May it was also decided the inquests would scrutinise alleged failings by police and the security services.

Coroner Lady Justice Hallett said it was "not too remote" to investigate what was known in the years before the atrocities took place.

She ruled that inquests into the deaths of the four suicide bombers would also be held separately after controversy the inquests would all be held together.

Survivors complained they had been "shunted aside" after being excluded from inquests into the 52 deaths.

Some of those affected by the 2005 atrocities said they were disappointed not to be granted a special status by the coroner which would allow them to question witnesses.

But they pledged to throw their full weight behind Lady Justice Hallett as she tries to get answers for what happened and whether more could have been done to prevent the attacks.

Lawyers for many bereaved families campaigned for a broad-ranging investigation of whether the authorities could have prevented the 2005 attacks.

They want to use the inquests to ask MI5 officials why they did not follow up plot ringleader Khan after he was witnessed meeting known terror suspects 17 months before the attacks.

The security service argued this questioning would be both unnecessary and impossible because it would require the disclosure of top secret intelligence files.