‘BETRAYAL’ OF BEACH BRITONS

30 UK victims of Tunisia massacre died after local police deliberately slowed down on way to tackle ISIS gunman, inquest told

AN ISLAMIC State terrorist slaughtered 30 British tourists in Tunisia after local police ‘deliberately and unjustifiably’ delayed their arrival at the scene, an inquest heard yesterday.

Seifeddine Rezgui ‘systematically’ gunned down 38 holidaymakers during a 20-minute rampage in the beach resort of Sousse in June 2015.

CCTV footage played to a courtroom full of victims’ relatives showed the 23-yearold killer approaching the hotel with an AK47 hidden under a parasol.

But yesterday inquests into the death of the British victims at the Royal Courts of Justice heard that local security officials ‘wasted time’ in getting to the five-star Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel, where the massacre took place.

The court also heard that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) did not change its travel advice to warn tourists not to visit Tunisia – despite a jihadist shooting in the capital Tunis just three months before and fears of ‘copycat’ attacks.

IS had praised the earlier attack on the Bardo National Museum in Tunis in March 2015, in which 20 tourists were killed, including one Briton, and encouraged further atrocities.

The seven-week hearing will also hear evidence critical of TUI, tour operator Thomson’s parent company, the court was told

Some of the families of those caught up in the Sousse attack said they had been assured by the firm that it was safe to travel to Tunisia after the Bardo attack.

Coroner Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith opened the hearing by asking for the names of the 30 UK holidaymakers – aged 19 to 80 – and eight foreign victims who died in the atrocity to be read aloud ‘so they are not forgotten’, followed by a minute’s silence.

The attack remains the deadliest on Britons since the London bombings on July 7, 2005, and the victims included three generations of the same family. Samantha Leek QC, counsel to the inquests, told the court that a report into the massacre by Tunisian Judge Akremi cited an unnamed interior minister – who claimed security officers nearby had consciously slowed down their arrival.

Miss Leek 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.’

Miss 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; 38 people who had done nothing to provoke this attack, individually or collectively; 38 people who needlessly lost their lives,’ 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, identified only as AI, picking up his gun and attempting to confront Rezgui. However he was unable to work the weapon.

She said that witnesses who saw AI brandishing the gun may have sparked reports at the time of a second gunman involved in the shooting. However, Rezgui is thought to have acted alone – albeit with an accomplice in a van nearby

Rezgui’s ghoulish rampage through the hotel was played out before the court through 3D maps and CCTV, including one clip showing the harrowing death of 72-yearold grandfather Bruce Wilkinson, a retired ambulance worker from Goole, East Yorkshire. A woman, believed to be a family member, left the room before it was shown.

The court was also shown CCTV footage of the gunman arriving at the scene in a white Peugeot van, driven by the unknown accomplice.

In it Rezgui is seen going to the back of the van and retrieving the automatic weapon, which he conceals under a parasol. He picks up his pace as he heads to the beach, where he ‘systematically’ shoots holidaymakers outside the hotel as others flee in terror.

The gunman’s route – said to be approximately 1.8 miles from the point he was dropped off to the point he was killed – was digitally reconstructed and shown to the court, with pictures of the victims appearing where they were shot. The Tunisian student was later shot dead by police.

The inquest will later hear evidence from his father, who said he ‘had not practised religion until 18 months before the attack’.

Before commencing her evidence, Jane Marriott – a senior manager with the FCO’s diplomatic office and head of the joint international counter-terror unit – expressed her condolences to the victims’ families. At the time of the attacks she was one of two directors for the Middle East and North Africa desk at the FCO.

She told the court that the government had ‘no prior knowledge’ of the Sousse terror attack, despite the shooting in Tunis just months earlier.

The FCO received ‘a flurry of emails’ from around 250 holidaymakers wanting to cancel holidays

‘Threat recognised at the time’

already booked after the Bardo attack, but officials did not advise against travelling to Tunisia.

However, Miss Marriott said: ‘Bardo demonstrated the threat posed by extremist groups towards western interest in Tunisia.

‘In the aftermath of Bardo [it was] considered possible that the perceived success of attack might inspire copycat attacks, and the threat to western interest more widely across North Africa was recognised at the time.’

During the legal process prior to the inquest opening, the Government applied for certain evidence to be kept secret amid concerns about national security.

But when Miss Leek yesterday referred to the possibility of asking witnesses questions that relate to ‘sensitive security material’, Judge Loraine-Smith noted: ‘I am very keen to avoid any in-camera [non-public] hearings.’

The inquest continues.

Eileen Swannack, 73, a great-grandmother of Biddestone, Wiltshire

Billy Graham, 51, was killed with wife Lisa. He served in the Army for 22 years

Carly Lovett, 24, from Lincolnshire fled gun fire to be killed by grenade

John Stollery, 58, a social worker in Nottinghamshire died from shot to the head

John Welch, 74, and his partner Eileen visited the resort annually since 2011

Charles ‘Patrick’ Evans, 78, was shot alongside son Adrian and grandson Joel

Stephen Mellor, 59, from Bodmin was killed while shielding his wife Cheryl

Lisa Graham, of Bankfoot Perthshire, was in Sousse celebrating her 50th

Elaine Thwaites, 69, from Blackpool, and husband Denis were both killed

Philip Heathcote, 52, from Suffolk, was with his wife, who survived five shots

Gunman: Seifeddine Rezgui roams the beach in Sousse with an AK47

Sharon Bell, 54, was a care manager and mother who was shot on the beach

Christopher Bell, 59, a rail worker from Leeds, died alongside wife Sharon

Adrian Evans, 49, was killed by a bullet that grazed his nephew Owen, 16, who lived

Claire Windass, 54, of Hull, was shot next to husband Jim, who escaped unhurt

Joel Richards, 19, from the Black Country died with his uncle and grandfather

Lisa Burbidge, 66, a grandmother-of-four of Whickham, Gateshead

Chris Dyer, 32, an engineer from Watford, was on a holiday with his wife Gina

Bruce Wilkinson, 72, a grandfather and retiree from Goole, East Yorkshire

Trudy Jones, 52, single mother-of-four from Blackwood, South Wales

David Thompson, 80, a retired atomic scientist from Tadley, Hampshire

Denis Thwaites, 70, was a former Birmingham City football player of ten years

John Stocker, 74, was shot on the beach while with his wife of 26 years Janet

Scott Chalkley, 42, from Derby was on holiday with his partner Suzanne

Jim McQuire, 66, and wife Ann were due to return to Cumbernauld the next day

Angela Fisher, 69, from Leicester was killed along with her husband Ray

Ray Fisher, 75, and his wife Angela were the last British victims to be named

Stuart Cullen, 52, of Suffolk, was with wife Christine, who was injured but lived

Ann McQuire, 63, had booked a last-minute trip with her husband

Suzanne Davey, 44, from Tamworth was killed along with partner Scott Chalkley

Janet Stocker, 63, of Morden, south London, a grandmother-of-ten