Victims’ families call for online terror inquiry
An inquest into the deaths of Westminster terror attack victims must look at the failure to tackle extremism online, bereaved families have said. A lawyer for victims’ relations said they could not understand why radical material was freely available online, as the issue came up in “trial after trial”.
AN INQUEST into the deaths of five victims of the Westminster Bridge attack must look at the failure to tackle online extremism and radicalisation in jails, bereaved families have said.
A lawyer for relatives of those killed in Khalid Masood’s car-and-knife attacks said they could not understand why radical material was still freely available online, or why internet companies needed to offer encrypted messaging services.
At the Old Bailey, Gareth Patterson QC called for the coroner to examine the problems that come up in “terrorist trial after terrorist trial”.
Masood, 52, was shot dead by police after he drove a rented car into pedestrians on the bridge then fatally stabbed PC Keith Palmer, 48, as he stood guard at the Palace of Westminster.
Kurt Cochran, 54, an American tourist; Leslie Rhodes, 75, a retired window cleaner; Aysha Frade, 44, a teacher; and Andreea Cristea, 31, a Romanian tourist, all died during the 82-second attack. A pre-inquest hearing at the Old Bailey yesterday heard that there was “a high public interest in a comprehensive public investigation”.
Mr Patterson said that problems repeatedly highlighted in legal cases included “the internet, end-to-end encryption and radicalisation in prison”.
He said: “Terrorist trial after terrorist trial shows the same problems.” And he asked: “Why is it that radical material continues to be freely available on the internet? We do not understand.”
Mr Patterson said he wanted the inquest to shed light on “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.”
An inquest into the deaths before Coroner Mark Lucraft QC at the Old Bailey from Sept 10 is expected to last up to four weeks. A separate inquest, by jury, into the death of Masood would follow, the court heard. Mr Lucraft began proceedings offering his condolences to the families of the dead.
He said the events of March 22, 2017 had been “less than two minutes of high and terrible drama”.
Lawyers for the Home Office said the issue of encryption was too broad for an inquest and was a matter of “legislation and social policy”.
The court heard that the inquest would examine Masood’s history and his movements before the attack and a “psychological autopsy” would provide a mental profile. A urine sample from Masood provided evidence he had taken anabolic steroids before the attack, the court heard.
Mr Patterson told the court that the families of those killed still knew “very little” about how their loved ones died.
Jonathan Hough QC, counsel for the coroner, said the attacks were “devastating” and required a “full, fair” inquiry in the public interest. There has already been an internal review by MI5 and police about what they knew of Masood prior to the attack.