Westminster attack inquests - latest updates: Coroner gives conclusions on how victims of terror attacker Khalid Masood died
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The inquests into the deaths of the victims of the Westminster attack are due to conclude.
Chief coroner Mark Lucraft QC is due to give his conclusions at the Old Bailey on the deaths of four civilians and police officer Keith Palmer, who were murdered by terrorist Khalid Masood.
He will consider whether factors including security at the Houses of Parliament, the lack of barriers on Westminster Bridge, police body armour and security service investigations into Masood played a role in their deaths.
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On Tuesday the court heard closing submissions, with Jonathan Hough QC, for the coroner, saying the inquests should conclude all five victims were unlawfully killed.
He said: “Each was murdered in a terrorist atrocity which was no less brutal for its lack of sophistication.”
Masood, 52, drove into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge on March 22 last year, killing American tourist Kurt Cochran, 54, retired window cleaner Leslie Rhodes, 75, Aysha Frade, 44, and Romanian tourist Andreea Cristea, 31.
He then stormed through gates near the Houses of Parliament and fatally stabbed Pc Palmer with two knives.
In his closing argument, Gareth Patterson QC, for families of victims on the bridge, urged the coroner to make a report on the circumstances of the case to “protect the public”.
On the role of MI5, whose knowledge of Masood has been heavily scrutinised, he said: “We do think there is room for improvement in terms of decision-making.”
He suggested security services should look again at when to investigate suspects and when to stop, and to take account of violent backgrounds.
Mr Patterson also called for the Government to “try again” with tightening rules for hiring cars.
Dominic Adamson, representing PC Palmer's widow Michelle, said that there was “a systematic failure” in protecting unarmed officers on guard at the Palace of Westminster.
He told the coroner: “In my submission it is very clear that you can be satisfied that as a result of those failures the consequences for Pc Palmer were that there was a substantial loss of the opportunities for him to be saved.”
No firearms officer had been near Carriage Gates, where Pc Palmer was on duty, for nearly an hour before Masood's attack.
Susannah Stevens, representing the officer's family, said: “If there had been authorised firearms officers present at that time, in our submission, on the balance of probabilities they would have been able to prevent a loss of an opportunity of saving Pc Palmer's life.
”Or to put it another way, on the balance of probabilities, their absence contributed to Pc Palmer's death.“
The court will hear further closing submissions in the morning, before the coroner begins giving his conclusions.
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage from the conclusion of the Westminster attack inquests.
Mark Lucraft QC, the chief coroner of England and Wales, is due to give his conclusions at the Old Bailey on the deaths of four civilians and police officer Keith Palmer, who were murdered by terrorist Khalid Masood.
He will consider whether factors including security at the Houses of Parliament, the lack of barriers on Westminster Bridge, police body armour and security service investigations into Masood played a role in their deaths.
The court will hear further closing submissions in the morning, before the coroner begins giving his conclusions.
Representatives of the victims' families started making submissions to the coroner yesterday. They urged the coroner to make a report on the circumstances of the case to “protect the public” and called for changes to the way MI5 starts and stops investigations into potential terrorists.
A lawyer representing PC Palmer's wife said there was “a systematic failure” in protecting unarmed officers on guard at the Palace of Westminster.
The inquests are currently hearing closing submissions from interested parties, after which the coroner will start delivering his conclusions.
Hugo Keith, a lawyer representing the Metropolitan Police, has been arguing against claims by the family of PC Keith Palmer that having armed officers stationed at Carriage Gates could have saved his life
Citing evidence given by firearms officers, he said that even if they had been on Carriage Gates at the time of the attack, they would have run towards the site where Khalid Masood crashed his car and left it unguarded.
The noise made by the vehicle crashing into a low wall and railings surrounding the Houses of Parliament sparked initial reports of an explosion, and officers at Parliament were unaware that victims had been run over on Westminster Bridge.
Mr Keith argued that even if armed officers remained at Carriage Gates, they may not have been able to take a safe shot at Masood as he ran through members of the public at speed.
He says it is "not arguable that there was a breach of article 2" of the European Convention on Human Rights,
The article covers the “right to life” and where it is triggered following a death, a broader inquiry into the death occurs that specifically considers state and statutory negligence
Mr Keith argues that the fact the Westminster inquests have not been designated under article 2 "had made no difference to the format, scope and rigorousness" of the process
But counsel to the inquest Jonathan Hough QC does not accept his argument. He says that Carriage Gates had been identified as a weak point in the parliamentary perimiter by security reviews, and that the estate contains "thousands of people...including very important figures who make an attractive target for terrorists"
He says the systems for police changing post were "arguably deficient", leaving officers unaware of their instructions. "We also see that the system could be improved"
Mr Hough says: "It cannot be that it is unarguable that there was a means of ensuring that almost all of the time officers in this critical place were complying with their instructions."
He says the question is "whether it is arguable that a systemic breach deprived PC Palmer of a real and substantial chance of survival"
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