Little in way of security to prevent attacks

Inquest hears that report was scathing of protection

Security at beach hotels in the Tunisian resort of Sousse was criticised in a report produced for the British Government months before 38 people were killed in a terrorist attack there, an inquest has heard.

The January 2015 “recce” of hotels included the five-star Riu Imperial Marhaba where extremist Seifeddine Rezgui massacred tourists – including 30 Britons and three Irish citizens – the following June.

The inquests into the deaths of the British victims heard yesterday the report questioned the security at the beach entrances to some 30 hotels in three neighbouring Mediterranean resorts on the Tunisian coast.

There were just four unarmed security guards on duty protecting the 631 mainly British hotel guests when the bloody attack happened, the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London was also told.

A statement from Mehrez Saadi, the hotel’s general manager at the time, also revealed in response to a terror warning in the summer of 2014 the hotel had asked its gardeners to double up as security guards - but only for around a week.

Rezgui killed around 10 of his victims on Sousse’s beach and then entered the upmarket hotel from the entrance on the sand.

The resort had previously been targeted by a suicide bomber in October 2013, who killed only himself, the inquest heard.

Andrew Ritchie QC, who represents 20 victims’ families, read extracts from the heavily redacted report by a UK embassy official who had been working in Mumbai when the terror attack took place in the Indian city in 2008.

He said: “Given that the attack on the Riadh Palms Hotel in October 2013 was launched from the beach, particular attention was paid to the beach access points.

“It (the report) said ‘Despite some good security infrastructure around the hotels and resorts there seems to be little in the way of effective security to prevent or respond to an attack (from the beach)’.”

Mr Ritchie told the inquest the Government was aware Islamic State-linked extremists had warned the terror group would target tourists in a video posted on YouTube in December 2014.

The inquests have previously heard official guidance for tourists to Tunisia said there was a “high risk of terrorism” at the time of the Sousse attack.