My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence and I wish to make the following statement to the House about the inquests of servicemen and women who have died overseas which fall within the jurisdiction of the Oxfordshire coroner, Nicholas Gardiner.
All casualties suffered by the UK armed forces are a source of profound regret. UK service personnel have put their lives on the line to help build strong, stable and democratic nations and protect the interests of the United Kingdom and we cannot pay high enough tribute to the job they are doing, or the sacrifice some of them have made. We are committed to assisting the families of UK Service personnel who have died on operations overseas when their loved ones are returned to the UK.
We made statements to the House on 5 June, 12 October and 18 December with information about the conduct of inquests by the Oxfordshire coroner and today we are announcing progress which has been made since the written ministerial statement in December.
Background
Coroners are independent judicial officers appointed and paid for by the relevant local authority. Their officers and staff are employed by the local authority and/or the police.
Each death of a serviceman or woman killed in an operation overseas whose body is repatriated to England and Wales is subject to an inquest. The inquest – both the investigation into the death and the holding of the public hearing into the death – is conducted by the coroner with jurisdiction which derives from where the body lies. In the case of deaths of servicemen and women whose bodies are flown into Brize Norton military airbase, the Oxfordshire coroner has jurisdiction.
In the 12 months preceding the June written ministerial statement, in addition to the non-armed forces inquests which the coroner has in his jurisdiction, Mr Gardiner and his deputy coroners had conducted 31 inquests into the deaths of servicemen who died in Iraq. One inquest was dealt with by the Powys coroner and one by the Wiltshire and Swindon coroner.
At the time of the 5 June written ministerial statement, there remained 59 inquests to be concluded into the deaths of service personnel killed in Iraq and 11 inquests of civilians whose bodies were flown into Brize Norton.
At the time of the 12 October written ministerial statement, a further nine inquests had been held into the deaths of servicemen who have died in Iraq.
When I made the written ministerial statement in June, we had only asked the coroner to provide details of inquests into those deaths in his jurisdiction relating to Iraq. By the time of the October statement the coroner had provided us with details of outstanding inquests into six deaths from previous conflicts or other military exercises abroad and three further civilian casualties, the earliest of which occurred in 1998. The position in relation to the inquests in these additional deaths was reported to the House in the 12 October statement. Including these deaths, there remained 59 inquests to be concluded into the deaths of service personnel and 11 inquests into the deaths of civilians at the time of the October statement.
By the time of the December written ministerial statement, the coroner had provided us with details of outstanding inquests into six deaths from a military exercise in the Czech Republic in 2004. Including these deaths, there remained 48 inquests to be concluded into the deaths of service personnel and nine inquests into the deaths of civilians who lost their lives in Iraq and whose bodies were repatriated to RAF Brize Norton.
As of today, there remain 25 inquests to be concluded into the deaths of service personnel in military conflicts and exercises overseas whose bodies were repatriated to RAF Brize Norton and 4 inquests into the deaths of civilians who lost their lives in Iraq and whose bodies were repatriated to RAF Brize Norton.
Further support for the coroner to conduct inquests on deceased armed forces personnel
As we reported to the House in the earlier statements, the Oxfordshire coroner appointed the following as additional assistant deputy coroners to assist with conducting the inquests detailed above:
Sir Richard Curtis—who served as a High Court Judge between 1992 and 2005, was appointed on 8 August.
Ms. Selena Lynch—barrister at law, former full-time Coroner for Inner South London and currently deputy coroner for South London was appointed on 5 June.
Mr. Andrew Walker—barrister at law, Deputy Coroner for both North London and East London and Assistant Deputy Coroner for both Inner London North and Inner London South was appointed on 5 June.
To provide support for the coroner and his assistant deputy coroners, the following resources have been made available:
Three additional coroner’s officers, Mr. Geoff Webb, Mr. George Gatt and Mr. Derrick Bines have been appointed by Thames Valley Police to support the existing complement of five officers and one officer’s team leader in the Oxfordshire coroner’s office. They are supporting the coroners in various ways, including by contacting witnesses, listing inquests and providing support at inquests.
An additional administrative assistant, Ms. Stella Hartley-Morris has been appointed to the existing administrative assistant in the Oxfordshire coroner’s office who provide administrative support for the investigations and inquests.
Recording equipment—to enable two courts to operate simultaneously.
Progress with the remaining inquests
At the time of the December written ministerial statement, all inquests of deaths had been allocated to the assistant deputy coroners. 19 inquests had been held (the WMS mistakenly stated 18 inquests) the inquest into the death of Sergeant Roberts was currently being held and a further 50 inquests had been listed for hearing (the WMS mistakenly reported 51 inquests).
The position now is that 56 inquests have been held, 46 into the deaths of servicemen and 10 into the deaths of civilians. All of the remaining 25 inquests into servicemen’s deaths have been listed for hearing and pre-inquest hearings have been set in the remaining four civilian inquests. We hope that all the inquests will have been heard by the end of June. We are very grateful for the efforts of all those involved.
We shall continue to keep the House informed on a quarterly basis about progress through the remaining inquests. Below is a table, which outlines the status of all cases and the date of death of each case.
We have not included in this statement inquests into a further 66 service personnel deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan which occurred after 15 May 2006 and which were repatriated into Brize Norton, as the additional support for the coroner outlined above only intended to clear the backlog of cases he had in June. 16 of these cases have been dispersed to other coroners but there remain 50 inquests where the Oxfordshire coroner has retained jurisdiction which have been opened and adjourned.
Resources have now been made available to the Oxfordshire Coroner to enable Andrew Walker to remain as assistant deputy coroner with Geoff Webb as coroner’s officer to complete those inquests where the Oxfordshire coroner assumed responsibility.
Liaison with the next of kin
It is of the greatest importance that the next of kin have full information about the progress on the inquest of their deceased next of kin.
In order to further improve the service to families I invited to meet me on 4 December 2006 the families of service personnel who died in Iraq whose inquests had been held. We are grateful to the 17 relatives of the 12 deceased servicemen and women who gave us the benefit of their views and experiences so as to improve the inquest system for the benefit of future families of members of the armed service who die abroad.
Following that meeting we are working on providing families with better information about the inquest system, how we can help families to have access to all material relevant to the inquest; and holding inquests closer to where the relatives live.
Date of death Name of deceased Allocated to In process of being listed for hearing Date listed Date inquest heard 1 6 July 1998 Kevin Tucker1 Andrew Walker 26 February 2007 Narrative verdict 2 11 August 1998 Michael Watkins1 Andrew Walker 18 January 2007 Narrative verdict 3 9 April 2001 Flight Lieutenant Maguire1 Andrew Walker 22-26 January 2007 Narrative verdicts 4 9 April 2001 Captain Crous1 Andrew Walker 5 21 March 2003 Lance Bombardier Evans Andrew Walker 16 April 2007 6 21 March 2003 Sergeant Hehir Andrew Walker 7 21 March 2003 Major Ward (Royal Marines) Andrew Walker 8 21 March 2003 Captain Guy (Royal Marines) Andrew Walker 9 21 March 2003 Warrant Officer 2 Stratford (Royal Marines) Andrew Walker 10 21 March 2003 Colour Sergeant Cecil (Royal Marines) Andrew Walker 11 21 March 2003 Marine Hedenskog Andrew Walker 12 21 March 2003 Operator Maintainer (Communications) 1 Seymour (Royal Navy) Andrew Walker 13 22 March 2003 Lieutenant Wilson Sir Richard Curtis 3-8 January 2007 Accidental death verdicts 14 22 March 2003 Lieutenant West Sir Richard Curtis 15 22 March 2003 Lieutenant Green Sir Richard Curtis 16 22 March 2003 Lieutenant Williams Sir Richard Curtis 17 22 March 2003 Lieutenant King Sir Richard Curtis 18 22 March 2003 Lieutenant Lawrence Sir Richard Curtis 19 22 March 2003 Flight Lieutenant Main Andrew Walker 30-31 October 2006 Narrative verdicts 20 22 March 2003 Flight Lieutenant Williams Andrew Walker 21 22 March 2003 Sapper Allsopp Andrew Walker 29 September 2006 Unlawful killing 22 22 March 2003 Staff Sergeant Cullingworth Andrew Walker 23 22 March 2003 Terry Lloyd2 Andrew Walker 3-13 October 2006 Unlawful killing 24 24 March 2003 Sergeant Roberts Andrew Walker 11-15 December 2006 Narrative verdict 25 25 March 2003 Corporal Allbutt Andrew Walker 16 April 2007 (provisional) PIH in w/c/ 16 April 2007 26 28 March 2003 Lance Corporal of Horse Hull Andrew Walker 29 January to 2 February 2007 and 12-13 March 2007 Unlawful killing 27 30 March 2003 Lance Corporal Brierley Nicholas Gardiner 21 June 2006 Accidental death 28 30 March 2003 Marine Maddison Andrew Walker 20 November 2006 Narrative verdict 29 30 March 2003 Major Ballard Andrew Walker 27-30 November 2006 Narrative verdict 30 1 April 2003 Lance Corporal Shearer Selena Lynch 24-26 January 2007 Accidental death 31 6 April 2003 Fusilier Turrington Andrew Walker 28 September 2006 Narrative verdict 32 6 April 2003 Private Muzvuru Selena Lynch 17 November 2006 Killed in action 33 6 April 2003 Lance Corporal Malone Selena Lynch 17 November 2006 Killed in action 34 13 August 2003 Private Smith Andrew Walker 6-10 November 2006 Narrative verdict 35 23 September 2003 Sergeant Nightingale Andrew Walker 27 September 2006 Narrative verdict 36 1 January 2004 Sergeant Patterson Selena Lynch 17 November 2006 Accidental death 37 1 January 2004 Major Stenner 38 2 January 2004 Lance Corporal Craw Andrew Walker 8 January 2007 Narrative verdict 39 24 May 2004 Robert Morgan2 Nicholas Gardiner 5 July 2006 Unlawful killing 40 24 May 2004 Mark Carman2 Nicholas Gardiner 5 July 2006 Unlawful killing 41 22 June 2006 Antonio Jose Monteiro-Abelha2 Andrew Walker PIH in w/e 16 April 2007 42 28 June 2004 Fusilier Gentle Selena Lynch 2-4. May 2007 43 19 July 2004 Flight Lieutenant Gover Andrew Walker 4 June 2007 44 9 August 2004 Private O’Callaghan Nicholas Gardiner 21 June 2006 Unlawful killing 45 9 September 2004 Captain Loose1 Andrew Walker 23 April 2007 46 Sergeant Kemp1 47 Gunner Kelly1 48 Gunner Crain1 49 Gunner Gomersall1 50 Gunner Dimmock1 51 11 October 2004 P Chadwick2 Selena Lynch 19.-21 February 2007 Accident 52 31 October 2004 Staff Sergeant Rose Selena Lynch 13-15 November 2006 She killed herself 53 7 November 2004 Shaun Paul Husband2 Andrew Walker PIH in w/c 16 April 2007 54 7 November 2004 Joseph Terry2 55 8 November 2004 Private Tukutukuwaqa Nicholas Gardiner 5 July 2006 Unlawful killing 56 9 December 2004 Raj Gurung2 Andrew Walker PIH in w/c/ 16 April 2007 57 1 January 2005 John Dolman2 Selena Lynch 26 February 2007 Unlawful killing verdicts 58 1 January 2005 Nicholas Pears2 59 1 January 2005 John Eardley2 60 1 January 2005 Tracy Hushin2 61 1 May 2005 Guardsman Wakefield Selena Lynch 11 December 2006 Unlawful killing 62 25 May 2005 Lance Corporal Brackenbury Andrew Walker 14 May 2007 63 29 June 2005 Signaller Didsbury Andrew Walker 15 January 2007 Narrative verdict 64 15 July 2005 Private Spicer Selena Lynch 29 January 2007 Unlawful killing in all 3 cases 65 15 July 2005 Private Hewett 66 15 July 2005 2nd Lieutenant Shearer 67 30 July 2005 Kenneth Hull2 Selena Lynch 13 December 2006 Unlawful killing 68 30 July 2005 Andrew Holloway2 69 5 September 2005 Fusilier Manning Selena Lynch 15 November 2006 Unlawful killing 70 5 September 2005 Fusilier Meade 71 30 January 2006 Lance Corporal Douglas Selena Lynch 17 November 2006 Unlawful killing 72 31 January 2006 Corporal Pritchard Andrew Walker 21 May 2007 73 2 February 2006 Trooper Smith Selena Lynch 23 February 2007 Accident on active service 74 28 February 2006 Private Ellis Selena Lynch 27 November 2006 Unlawful killing 75 28 February 2006 Captain Holmes 76 28 February 2006 Lieutenant Palmer Andrew Walker 21 May 2007 77 22 March 2006 Corporal Cridge1 Selena Lynch 22 February 2007 Suicide 78 27 March 2006 Lance Corporal Craddock1 Selena Lynch 22 February 2007 Accident 79 7 May 2006 Wing Commander John Coxen Andrew Walker 21 May 2007 80 7 May 2006 Lieutenant Commander Darren Chapman 81 7 May 2006 Captain David Dobson 82 7 May 2006 Flight Lieutenant Sarah-Jayne Mulvihill 83 7 May 2006 Marine Paul Collins 84 15 May 2006 Private Morris Selena Lynch 14 March 2007 Both unlawfully killed while on active service 1 Non-Iraq related military death. 2 Civilian Iraq related death.