7/7 conspiracy theories 'have no basis'

Conspiracy theories about the 7/7 attacks have no basis in evidence, the hearing was told.

Hugo Keith QC, counsel to the inquests, rejected claims that the four bombers were "duped" into carrying out the atrocities and that intelligence agencies allowed the plot to happen.

He also said there was nothing to support theories that the explosions on the London Underground were connected to a power surge or that the bombs went off under the Tube carriages.

Mr Keith said it was important to mention the ideas put forward by conspiracists - who have written at length to the inquests team - in order to dispel common myths about the attacks.

He said: "There is, we feel, a danger that the continuation of such claims might needlessly distress the bereaved families as well as distracting attention away from the issues that we have identified as being worthy of further investigation."

The inquest heard that conspiracy theories have grown up around the apparently normal behaviour of the bombers in the days and weeks before they carried out their deadly mission on July 7 2005.

Shehzad Tanweer, 22, played cricket on the evening before the attacks, and seemed to his family more concerned about losing his mobile phone.

The wife of plot mastermind Mohammed Sidique Khan, 30, was pregnant and he accompanied her to hospital on July 5 2005. He also had his car serviced just before the bombings.

Jermaine Lindsay, 19, who was married, spent his final few weeks trying to start a new relationship. He attempted to persuade the woman to spend the night of July 6 2005 with him in London.

There is also some evidence that he may have been involved in carrying out a crime in Luton shortly before the attacks.

But Mr Keith said: "There is no evidence at all that we have seen to suggest that the bombers were duped in some way or that they did not know that they were going to die, or even more absurdly that they did not know that they were carrying explosives at all."

He added: "Nor have we seen anything to su