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.
Judge Lucraft gives his sincere thanks to the emergency services who responded.
He says CCTV footage has enabled police to investigate the atrocity and meant that the "full horror of what took place has been fully recorded."
"Westminster was busy on the day and many people on the day had with them mobile phones and cameras," he says, adding that some footage was sent to police to assist with the investigation and some "for whatever reason" had been posted on the internet.
"Some of that material has been very distressing to the families and I would encourage it to be removed."
Judge Lucraft is going through the timeline of the attack, which lasted 82 seconds between the car starting its movement and Masood being shot.
Judge Lucraft says that if American tourist Kurt Cochran had not pushed his wife out of the way of Masood's vehicle she would have suffered even more serious or fatal injuries.
He was killed and thrown over the bridge wall and down to the lower embankment, falling more than 5m.
His wife Melissa was also hit and left with severe injuries.
Judge Lucraft is telling how a member of the public comforted Mr Cochran after he hit the pavement, when he was still alive but with "laboured" breathing and severe injuries, including a head wound.
A nurse found that he was not conscious before an ambulance crew arrived and the signs "were not good". Mr Cochran had sustained "catastrophic head injuries" and was declared dead at around 3pm on the day of the attack.
A post-mortem found he had suffered multiple external and internal injuries caused by "blunt force trauma" including a fractured skull.
A pathologist found that his injuries were "not surviveable" even with immediate medical care at the scene.
Judge Lucraft says he met with Mr Cochran's wife, Melissa, and her sister before they returned to the US.
He is now addressing the death of retired window cleaner Leslie Rhodes, who was hit while walking across Westminster Bridge and carried 33m along the road by Masood's car.
The car hit him at an estimated speed of 29-36mph.
A doctor who was also crossing the bridge at the time saw three people hit in what he thought was a "deliberate act", although he initially thought the car may be evading a police chase.
He found Mr Rhodes to be "unresponsive" and another person had called an ambulance. He found a "life-threatening injury" to his head, which was particularly severe given Mr Rhodes' age.
He also noted injuries to his eye and blood coming from his nose and mouth. He carried out a "jaw thrust" movement and Mr Rhodes started breathing again. A paramedic arrived and gave Mr Rhodes oxygen and other treatment. They became "optimistic about his chances of survival".
But on the eight minute journey into hospital, Mr Rhodes' oxygen saturation dropped and a CT scan revealed severe injuries to his head and chest.
The head injury had caused "irreversible changes to his brain" and he died later in hospital.
Judge Lucraft praises Dr Lloyd for doing his "medical best and also his best to comfort Leslie from the time he sustained catastrophic injuries".
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