A lawyer acting for relatives of murdered PC Keith Palmer today demanded an emergency halt to the Westminster terrorist attack inquest.
Susannah Stevens, who is representing his family but not his widow, said a key issue has been raised about the positioning of armed officers at the entrance to Parliament.
She said CCTV footage played during the inquest, which began on Monday, shows a 15-minute period when no firearms officers were stationed at Carriage Gates.
In a dramatic intervention, she said this had been kept from PC Palmer’s family, and they needed time to find legal representation to investigate it.
“The family of PC Palmer were not told anything about there being an issue at any stage by the Metropolitan Police Service”, she said.
“Through watching the CCTV, for 15 minutes there were no authorised firearms officers anywhere near Carriage Gates.
"The family are extremely distressed by the fact nobody from the MPS spoke to them to let them know there was an issue.”
Coroner Mark Lucraft QC rejected the application to stop the inquest, which was not supported by his widow.
A lawyer for the Met accused Ms Stevens of making “highly unfortunate” untrue allegations and claimed it could be an attempt to get legal aid funding.
PC Palmer was stabbed to death by extremist Khalid Masood, who ran over and killed four pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before being shot dead.
The inquest was continuing today with evidence of PC Palmer’s death.
