Pressure over troop inquests backed

12 April 2012

Relatives of Britons killed in so-called "friendly fire" incidents have welcomed the Government's move to summon America's deputy ambassador to explain why his country's soldiers have not turned up at inquests into the deaths.

Constitutional Affairs Minister Harriet Harman wrote to David Johnson after complaints from Oxfordshire coroner Andrew Walker about the failure of US servicemen to attend inquests including that of ITN reporter Terry Lloyd.

So far, no American servicemen are believed to have attended inquests into victims of US fire in the Gulf.

Mr Walker conducts most of them as the bodies are normally brought home to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

Earlier this month, he ruled that the deaths of two RAF Tornado pilots, Flight Lieutenants Kevin Main and David Williams, shot down by an American Patriot missile, were "entirely avoidable".

And last month, his court returned a verdict of unlawful killing in the case of Mr Lloyd, who was shot by US Marines during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Ms Harman said Britain's support for the special relationship with the US demanded honesty and openness in return.

"The families want to know how their loved ones were killed. They have got that right. I am hoping the Americans will give us full co-operation in the inquests because our special relationship demands honesty and openness," she told the Mail on Sunday.

Louis Charalambous, solicitor for Terry Lloyd's wife Lynn and daughter Chelsey, said: "It is a very positive development and the first Government indication of meaningful support for the families including Terry Lloyd's family."

Anne Leech, the mother of Kevin Leech, one of nine British fatalities in a "friendly fire" incident in the first Gulf War, said it would be fabulous if it happened - and was "very surprising".

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