Legal aid snub for relatives of July 7 bombers

Ministers rejected the two applications after ruling that they did not meet the criteria for public funding for their lawyers.

The Government has already agreed that legal aid will be offered to the families of the four bombers' 52 innocent victims as well as survivors of the attacks.

The inquests for those who died in the 2005 London bombings are expected to be held at the end of this year.

The coroner, Lady Justice Hallett, will decide the format, including whether the bombers' inquests should be heard along with those of their victims, at a three-day hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London next week.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "The Ministry of Justice has received two applications from relatives of the perpetrators of the July 7 bombings for representation at the inquests into their deaths.

"Ministers have refused the applications as they did not consider that the published exceptional funding criteria were met."

The bombers' families cannot appeal against the decision to refuse them legal aid, the Ministry of Justice said.

Relatives of two of the suicide bombers were legally represented at an earlier pre-inquest hearing – although it is understood there had been no legal aid application from them at that stage.

Human rights lawyer Imran Khan appeared on behalf of Hasina Patel, the widow of plot mastermind Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, of Dewsbury, and the parents of Hasib Hussain, 18.

He told the February 25 hearing that he recognised the anxiety of the victims' relatives about the upcoming inquests and said he had "no application to be made for funding".

Mr Khan promised: "Whatever involvement my clients have in these proceedings, we will try our utmost to ensure that it is done with sensitivity and with deference to the wishes of the bereaved families."

Suicide bombers Khan, Hussain, Shehzad Tanweer, 22, of Leeds, and Jermaine Lindsay, 19, who lived most of his life in Huddersfield, met at Luton rail 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 of 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.

Leeds-born 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 injured more than 700 people.

A fortnight later another four would-be suicide bombers launched failed attacks on the Tube and a bus, leading to police marksmen shooting dead innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes.

The July 7 inquests are likely to take place in a courtroom at the Royal Courts of Justice, starting in October.

There will be an annexe where the public and the media can watch the hearings via videolink.

Another two private rooms with videolink facilities will be provided in separate locations, one for the families of the victims and the other for relatives of the bombers.