Latest news with #PublicInquiry
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Omagh bombing inquiry: Survivors and families seek representation at closed hearings
Survivors and families of those killed in the Omagh bomb have asked to be represented by a special advocate in closed hearings at the public inquiry. Omagh bombing inquiry chairman Lord Turnbull is hearing arguments around various applications during dedicated hearings this week. Paul Greaney KC, counsel to the inquiry, which is examining whether the 1998 dissident republican bomb attack could have been prevented, said it will hear some sensitive security evidence in closed hearings. A total of 31 people, including unborn twins, died and hundreds were injured when a car bomb planted by the dissident republican group the Real IRA exploded in the centre of the Co Tyrone town on August 15th, 1998. READ MORE Speaking during hearings in Belfast on Monday, Mr Greaney said the inquiry's legal team recognises that survivors and the bereaved have spent 25 seeking the truth. He said some may be 'suspicious or even cynical of the UK state's willingness to engage in a way that is straightforward and wholehearted with this inquiry'. 'We acknowledge too, that the idea of evidence being heard in circumstances in which the families and survivors will be excluded is one that they will find difficult to accept, to say the least, and accordingly, we regard it as entirely understandable that some, although not all, have suggested special advocates should be appointed to represent their interests in any closed hearings, and have made applications for that to occur,' he said. Mr Greaney last month said the inquiry would not begin examining the atrocity itself until next year due to the 'pace of disclosure'. He said chapter three of the inquiry, which 'will consider the bombing itself', would commence in March of next year. The inquiry, which opened last year, was ordered by the UK government in the wake of a court judgment to examine whether the atrocity could reasonably have been prevented by British state authorities. During a four-week sitting in the Strule Arts Centre in Omagh earlier this year, the inquiry heard emotional testimony from bereaved relatives who delivered pen portraits of their loved ones, as well as from the injured and first responders. – PA
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Omagh Bombing Inqury: Survivors and families seek representation at closed hearings
Survivors and families of those killed in the Omagh bomb have asked to be represented by a special advocate in closed hearings at the public inquiry. Omagh bombing Inquiry chairman Lord Turnbull is hearing arguments around various applications during dedicated hearings this week. Paul Greaney KC, counsel to the inquiry, which is examining whether the 1998 dissident republican bomb attack could have been prevented, said it will hear some sensitive security evidence in closed hearings. A total of 31 people, including unborn twins, died and hundreds were injured when a car bomb planted by the dissident republican group the Real IRA exploded in the centre of the Co Tyrone town on August 15th, 1998. Speaking during hearings in Belfast on Monday, Mr Greaney said the inquiry's legal team recognises that survivors and the bereaved have spent 25 seeking the truth. He said some may be 'suspicious or even cynical of the UK state's willingness to engage in a way that is straightforward and wholehearted with this inquiry'. 'We acknowledge too, that the idea of evidence being heard in circumstances in which the families and survivors will be excluded is one that they will find difficult to accept, to say the least, and accordingly, we regard it as entirely understandable that some, although not all, have suggested special advocates should be appointed to represent their interests in any closed hearings, and have made applications for that to occur,' he said. Mr Greaney last month said the inquiry would not begin examining the atrocity itself until next year due to the 'pace of disclosure'. He said chapter three of the inquiry, which 'will consider the bombing itself', would commence in March of next year. The inquiry, which opened last year, was ordered by the UK government in the wake of a court judgment to examine whether the atrocity could reasonably have been prevented by British state authorities. During a four-week sitting in the Strule Arts Centre in Omagh earlier this year, the inquiry heard emotional testimony from bereaved relatives who delivered pen portraits of their loved ones, as well as from the injured and first responders. – PA
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Public ‘sick of cover-ups' at MoD, says Chinook crash campaigner
Calls for a public inquiry into the 1994 Mull of Kintyre Chinook crash have seen a surge in support in the wake of revelations about the Afghan data leak, with one campaigner saying it shows the public are 'sick of cover-ups and secrecy' at the Ministry of Defence (MoD). All 29 military and intelligence personnel on board RAF Chinook ZD576 were killed when the aircraft crashed in foggy weather en route from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to Fort George near Inverness on June 2, 1994. The bereaved families have called for a judge-led inquiry into the incident, which was initially blamed on pilot error before this was overturned in 2011. A petition calling for an inquiry saw a surge in support last week after campaigners took to social media to criticise efforts to cover up the leak of thousands of names of Afghans who had helped UK troops, which they said was another case of the MoD 'covering up its own mess'. Chris Cook, whose pilot brother Rick was killed in the 1994 crash, said: 'This Afghan cover-up shows that the MoD hasn't just lost its moral compass but has managed to avoid all democratic accountability and scrutiny. 'It hid this data leak from the very people who are meant to keep it in line – the Intelligence and Security Committee, which had a legal right to see the intelligence assessments.' He added: 'The MoD has become the Ministry of Deceit. It lies, it obfuscates and it squirrels away its mistakes until it is found out – just as it has with the Chinook crash. 'It took us 16 years to clear my brother's name, and all that time the MoD claimed information didn't exist – until we found it and then they questioned how we got the information. 'The trouble with this whole case over 31 years, and so many other MoD cases – the helicopter cancer cases, the nuclear vets, is that so much information has been suppressed. 'It seems that the Ministry of Deceit is unable to uphold the values of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality which they expect our armed forces to serve with. 'It's time for truth and transparency at the MoD and it's time for the Prime Minister to step in and clear up the MoD's many outstanding cases of deception, with a legal duty of candour imposed.' 'This Afghan cover up shows that the Ministry of Defence hasn't just lost its moral compass but has managed to avoid all democratic accountability and scrutiny. Just like the Chinook crash, it has covered up its own mess as usual. The MoD has become the Ministry of Deceit." — Chinook Justice (@ChinookJustice) July 18, 2025 In a social media post, the Chinook Justice group said: '#Coverup appears to be the mantra of the British state… with the MoD at the centre of it. Again.' In another it said the petition had got the 'zoomies' as the number of signatories doubled in the space of eight hours to more than 22,000. Andy Tobias, who was eight when his father Lt Col John Tobias was killed in the crash, said: 'Clearly, we have touched a nerve with the British public who are sick of cover-ups and secrecy at the MoD. 'Like many other families – from Hillsborough to sub-postmasters, the infected blood scandal to nuclear veterans and MoD helicopter cancer victims, and now Afghan families – we should not have to fight tooth and nail for truth, transparency and justice from the Government. 'That's why we are calling for a legal duty of candour. Enough is enough.' Following an appeal by Mr Tobias, former defence secretary Sir Liam Fox has agreed to meet the bereaved families to discuss the matter. The news comes on the back of the former minister's offer to intervene on their behalf with the MoD and 'if necessary' the Prime Minister to push for an inquiry, as reported in the Daily Mail newspaper. The MoD has been approached for comment.
Sky News
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Southport inquiry live: Impact statements to be heard from survivors' families
Southport murders 'one of the most egregious crimes in our country's history' Speaking on the first day of the inquiry, chair Sir Adrian Fulford said there was a "wholesale and general failure" to address the risks posed by Axel Rudakubana before the Southport attack, which he called "one of the most egregious crimes in our country's history". In his opening statement at Liverpool Town Hall, Sir Adrian told a council chamber packed with legal representatives, lawyers, the media and the public that "ordinary language simply fails to reflect the enormity of what [Rudakubana] did". "None of the most powerful adjectives even begin to suffice. There are no words that adequately describe what occurred and I am not going to try, and then fail, to find them." Sir Adrian said the teenager's "known predilection for knife crime" suggests it was "far from an unforeseeable catastrophic event". The former vice president of the Court of Appeal said Rudakubana's actions "impose the heaviest of burdens" to investigate how it was possible for him to cause "such devastation". The public inquiry, split into two phases, will look into whether the attack could or should have been prevented, given what was known about the killer. Rudakubana had been referred to the government's anti-extremism Prevent scheme three times before the murders, including over research into school shootings and the London Bridge terror attack. He had also accessed online material about explosives, warfare, knives, assassination and an al Qaeda training manual. Sir Adrian said Rudakubana's "unhindered" ability to access "gravely violent material" on the internet speaks to a "wholesale and general failure to intervene effectively, or indeed at all, to address the risks that he posed". He said he aims to make recommendations to ensure the best chance of stopping others "who may be drawn to treating their fellow human beings in such a cruel and inhuman way".
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Post Office scandal victims place hope in inquiry report
Scottish victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal say they hope the first part of the public inquiry's final report will bring justice a step closer. Volume one, which will focus on the human impact and compensation, will be published at midday on Tuesday. More than 70 people in Scotland have had their convictions overturned after they were wrongly accused of crimes like theft because of the faulty Post Office IT system. But the scandal runs deeper than those prosecuted, with many more people losing livelihoods and relationships as a result of false accusations. Thousands of people across the UK have been affected by what has been described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice of recent times. A statutory public inquiry into the UK-wide scandal was established in 2021 and has heard from hundreds of witnesses from across the country. Victims, lawyers and journalists will be among those gathering in central London when the chair of the inquiry - Sir Wyn Williams - delivers the first part of his report. Keith Macaldowie gave evidence to the inquiry when it came to Glasgow in 2022. He ran a post office in Greenock and was forced to resign in 2011 after an alleged shortfall of £10,000 was uncovered. He was not convicted but lost his livelihood and told the inquiry he came close to suicide. He finally reached a financial settlement with the company in March this year. Speaking ahead of the publication of the findings, he said: "What I hope from the first part of the inquiry report is for the redress scheme to speed up and get everyone paid what they are due. "I also hope that it helps with the police investigation that is ongoing." Ravinder Naga falsely confessed to stealing money from his mother's post office in Greenock in 2009 to protect her from going to prison. Appeal judges overturned his conviction last year. He told BBC Scotland News he wants accountability. "The people who died, they don't know their names have been cleared. They died before all this came out," he said. While the focus of Tuesday's report will be on the victims and compensation, Mr Naga said he ultimately wants those responsible for the scandal to go to prison. "I want justice," he added. Solicitor Advocate Stuart Munro is head of specialist litigation at Livingstone Brown and has been representing one of the first Scottish victims to have her conviction quashed. He said the Post Office Horizon scandal was one of the most far-reaching miscarriages of justice in British history. "Countless lives were ruined. Its victims will now be looking to Sir Wyn Williams to lay bare the truth of what happened and to recommend measures to ensure nothing like this can ever happen again. "That process begins on Tuesday with the publication of the first part of this final report." 'Post Office compensation wait is taking its toll' Sub-postmasters wrongly told to pay back money Post Office Horizon scandal: Why hundreds were wrongly prosecuted What are the different Post Office compensation schemes?
