Widow’s anger over stab vest that failed to save terror PC
THE widow of hero PC Keith Palmer fears her husband was wearing “inadequate” body armour when he was killed by the Westminster Bridge terrorist.
Michelle Palmer has still not seen an expert’s report on the officer’s “knife- proof” vest 10 months after his death, a court heard yesterday.
She is also demanding to know how Khalid Masood, 52, was able to get into Parliament’s precincts and murder her husband – they had a fiveyear- old daughter – so easily.
The former soldier took on the lone wolf attacker when he was unarmed and “apparently alone”, the preinquest hearing at the Old Bailey was told yesterday.
Masood stabbed the 48- year- old officer to death inside the grounds of Parliament during 82 seconds of carnage on March 22 last year. Moments earlier he killed four other people and injured dozens more when he drove into them on Westminster Bridge.
Rampage
Gareth Patterson, QC, for PC Palmer’s widow, told the hearing: “We welcome the indication that you will be investigating further what happened at the Houses of Parliament and how it was this attacker was able to get through those gates and how it was PC Palmer was apparently stationed alone and unarmed with, it seems, inadequate body protection.
“We would positively encourage further investigation into those areas.”
A body armour expert who examined PC Palmer’s “stab- proof” vest is due to give evidence at the inquest into the deaths of the victims at the Old Bailey starting on September 10.
They also include US tourist Kurt Cochran, 54, British mother Aysha Frade, 44, Romanian architect Andreea Cristea, 31, and pensioner Leslie Rhodes, 75.
Chief Coroner Mark Lucraft, QC was told yesterday that none of the families had received detailed postmortem reports on how their loved ones died. The reports are due to be released in the coming weeks. Security arrangements at Westminster are also being investigated.
The court heard Masood drove a hired Hyundai Tucson 4x4 into pedestrians as he careered down a pavement on Westminster Bridge.
He then leapt from the car, brandishing two knives, and ran through open gates into the grounds of Parliament where he stabbed PC Palmer.
Moments later, he was shot dead when he was confronted by two armed officers in plain clothes who were escorting a senior politician.
The Old Bailey was told the terrorist had taken steroids before launching the frenzied rampage.
The effect of steroid use on Masood will be considered alongside a “psychological autopsy” at the inquest into his death, which will be heard after that of victims in September.
It will examine if he was radicalised and what the security services learned in an MI5 investigation that declared him a “subject of interest” in 2009.
Mr Patterson, who also represents the families of Ms Frade, Ms Cristea and Mr Rhodes, also urged the coroner to examine the scourge of extremist material on the internet.
It is understood Masood had viewed jihadist material.