Tunisia attack inquest opens into deaths

Leiceter couple and city star’s relative died

TUNISIAN law enforcement units deliberately delayed their arrival at the scene of the terrorist attack in Sousse in which 38 tourists were killed, an inquest has heard.

Ray Fisher, 75, and his wife Angela, 69, of Western Park, Leicester, were among 30 British nationals gunned down by Seifeddine Rezgui Yacoubi at the Mediterranean resort in June 2015.

Sue Davey, 43, from Tamworth – mother-in-law of Leicester City midfielder Marc Albrighton – was also murdered in the attack.

The hearings opened on Monday at London’s Royal Courts of Justice.

Samantha Leek QC, counsel to the inquest, said evidence would be heard from a report by Tunisian Judge Akremi citing an unnamed interior minister as saying some nearby security officers stalled as they made their way to the five-star Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel before more police arrived and ended the slaughter by shooting Rezgui dead.

She said: “He said the units that should have intervened in the events deliberately and unjustifiably slowed down to delay their arrival at the hotel.

“They had the ability to put an end to the attack before the police arrived but wasted a considerable amount of time in getting to the hotel.”

Rezgui “systematically” gunned down the innocent tourists on the hotel’s beach before going into the grounds and the building and killing more.

CCTV footage played to the packed courtroom, full of relatives of those who died, showed the killer being dropped off in a white van and approaching the hotel with his gun hidden under a parasol.

Ms Leek said that on June 26, 2015, Rezgui “entered the hotel from the beach, carrying an automatic weapon and a number of explosives”.

“He systematically took the lives of 38 people who had travelled to Tunisia for enjoyment, luxury and relaxation,” she said.

An armed guard on the beach opened fire on Rezgui, but fell to the ground “seemingly unconscious” after the gunman threw a grenade at him, she added.

This led to a local speedboat driver, named as AI, picking his gun up and attempting to confront Rezgui. However, he couldn’t work the weapon.

The hearing will also examine security in place at the hotel by tour firm TUI and the travel advice issued for Tunisia by the UK Government. The atrocity came months after a terror attack at the Bardo National Museum in the capital, Tunis, in which 24 people were killed in March 2015.

Some of the families of those caught in the Sousse attack said they had been assured by tour operator Thomson that it was safe to travel to Tunisia after the Bardo attack. TUI, the travel company that owns Thomson, is represented at the inquest, as is the Government.

Ms Leek said the inquest would hear evidence “critical of TUI” as well as witnesses on behalf of the firm.

Detective Superintendent Mark Gower, from the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism unit, took the court through CCTV and 3D maps of the area of the attack.

The victims, aged between 19 and 80, included three generations from the same family.

The hearings are expected to take seven weeks.