Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News At Five 20170228 : vimarsan

Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News At Five 20170228

They must never be forgotten, and the families hope no one else will have to suffer the same fate again in future. Well have the latest from the Royal Courts Ofjustice and well be talking to the tunisian ambassador to the uk. The other main stories on bbc news at 5. A pension Dealforformer Bhs workers sir philip green will contribute 363 Million Pounds to help meet the shortfall. Not everyone who views Child Pornography should be jailed says a leading Child Protection Police Officer. Egg producers are facing the loss of their free range status because of measures to prevent the spread of bird flu. And the iron age treasures found in a field in staffordshire go on public display. Its 5 oclock. Our main story is the outcome of the inquests into the deaths of 30 british holidaymakers who were killed by a jihadist militant in tunisia in june 2015. The coronerjudge Nicholas Loraine smith ruled that the victims had been unlawfully killed and condemned the response of the Tunisian Police describing it as at best shambolic and at worst cowardly. He said the law did not allow him to make a finding of neglect by the Tour Operator tui but lawyers for some of the families have said they will sue the company. Tui said it was wholly erroneous to claim it had been neglectful and said there was insufficient evidence of any gross failure. First this evening this report by our correspondent richard galpin. The families of those killed had been hoping the coroners conclusions today would say neglect had played a part in the deaths of their loved ones, in particular the alleged lack of security at the hotel where they were staying. But there was disappointment. The coronerjudge Nicholas Loraine smith said no verdict of neglect is open to him, because he had not found gross deficiencies or that those efficiencies were directly linked to their deaths, but went on to say that the response by the police was at best shambolic, and at worst cowardly. Nowadays, Allen Pembroke leads a normal life working at this london company. But he was on the beach at the time of the attack. Realising no one was helping the injured, he did something quite extraordinary, running back to the scene of the attack after taking his wife to the safety of their hotel. I ran towards the gunfire. I could now see bodies on the beach. I hit the deck. And as i hit the sand, i literally fell into a lady. I could see the lady was moving and was semiconscious. She had some severe gunshot wounds. I dressed her hand, and covered her wrist with a scarf i pulled down from a beach umbrella. She then said she had pain in her leg, and i noticed she had a hole in her leg. So i got a beach towel and wrapped it around her leg to compress the injury and stop the bleeding. Mr pembrokes actions saved the life of the woman, whose husband lay dead beside her. But he is haunted by what he saw and angry at the failure of the Tunisian Police to intervene in time. I was on the beach a good 20 minutes with cheryl alone, and i saw no military or medical staff. Its only in recent reports that i found that police waited, police fainted, they hid. You know, its. Thats unforgivable. They need to be accountable for that. Just three months earlier, Foreign Tourists had been targeted in an attack by islamist extremists in the capital, tunis, leaving 20 dead. But the Foreign Office did not change its overall Travel Advice. The colour coded map on its website remained green for the coastal areas, said tourists could still go, even though the Foreign Office was warning of a high risk of terrorism. All 30 british tourist killed in the attack had booked their holiday with the Travel Company tui, the Parent Company of thompson. Today, the coroner have highlighted how staff had been told that if asked if tunisia was safe, the overall level of Foreign Office advice had not changed and it was Business As Usual at the beach resorts. There was no mention of the risk of terrorism. For those who lost loved ones in this horrific attack, the legal fight will continue now in the civil courts. On behalf of our clients who lost members of their families and who suffered injuries, in this terrible incident, we will be preparing to commence several receding against tui. The inquest in those who lost their lives, they must never be forgotten. Tui denies the allegations of neglect. They say they have already made changes. We have now heard the coroners findings, as those comments regarding security and visibility of Travel Advice, these are complex matters, and have taken steps to raise awareness of the travel aware campaign. The families know they are in for the long haul. It could be years before their claims in the civil courts are decided. Richard galpin, bbc news. The coroner as we heard was very critical of the response of the Tunisian Police. It was only after an hour long attack that Seifeddine Rezgui was shot dead by police. The lone gunman had walked unchallenged along the beach, and through a Hotel Complex packed with tourists, shooting randomly as our correspondent Daniela Relph reports. In front of the bereaved families, the inquest had heard the chilling, distressing detail of multiple murder. Here, the gunman Seifeddine Rezgui is dropped off near the resort. The driver of the car has never been found. Under his arm, a Parasol Hiding his weapon. He walked to the beach where he began to kill, shooting people as they lay on sunloungers. Holiday makers fled in panic. Across the sand, vulnerable in just shorts and swimming costumes, these are people quite literally running for their lives. There was chaos and confusion, how could this possibly be happening . A gunman, shooting tourist after tourist. Gunshot from the beach and the pool, he entered the hotel, roaming around looking for victims. Many were shot dead as they tried to hide. For 20 minutes, he killed repeatedly. No one stopped him. This map, evidenced during the inquest, showed how far Seifeddine Rezgui travelled on his killing spree. A metropolitan police team sent to tunisia to investigate commissioned this animation, an image of each victim marks the place where they were killed. In just about every main area of the hotel, somebody died. The gunman simply wasnt stopped, he wasnt challenged. The police, the coast guard, Hotel Security all failed to act in what was described in court as simple cowardice. Eventually, Seifeddine Rezgui was shot dead. Alongside the hotel where hed murdered 38 people. Gunshots the inquest has given the bereaved a voice. Tributes were read to each person killed. Here are extracts from those tributes that were moving, funny and sad. Although in their hearts, they knew that it was bad news, they still kept hoping and praying that she was safe. Owen no longer has his grandad, his brother nor his uncle. His three role models in his life, his three best friends. 0ur homes not filled with laughs and smiles like it used to be. No one will be able to take away the love matt and i shared with john, all the memories we were able to make and share together. John and Janet Stocker died together doing what they enjoyed most, being side by side. She always looked for the best in everyone, and truly was a kind, caring, intelligent, beautiful woman with a wicked sense of humour. Every day the families came to court, at times they had to sit through painful, agonising evidence. But these inquests have been an important part of the grieving process. A chance to remember and a chance to ask questions and look for answers. How could a Beach Holiday end up with so many people never coming home . Daniela relph, bbc news. The tunisian ambassador to the uk is nabil Ammar Hejoins Me now. Thank you very much forjoining us. You listen to what the coroner had to say. Was there any part of that statement you felt you could not agree with . Of course, i would not have used those terms, but its not my role to criticise the british procedures. What i would like to recall is the whole context in which these two awful operations have taken place. It was a country in transition and we cannot say that the whole police, Tunisian Police, as it has been described, is that way. Im not in the mind of the policemen there that they may have thought the attack was bigger than that, and they went to get more of their colleagues with them. Its very important to have in mind that the context was one where the whole area was not well prepared for this kind of attack. It has not happened in our history, its not in our culture. So, after that, the country has made a lot of improvements and taken has made a lot of improvements and Ta Ken Lessons has made a lot of improvements and taken lessons from what happened. Those, i think, taken lessons from what happened. Those, ithink, are taken lessons from what happened. Those, i think, are the main comments we can make at the moment. We talk about the Security Changes ina we talk about the Security Changes in a second, we will ask about those but be clear for our viewers, you in a second, we will ask about those but be clearfor our viewers, you do not like the description of police on that day. I wonder, how would you describe the way that they handled events describe the way that they handled eve nts o n describe the way that they handled events on that day . I think they may have been very much surprised and we re have been very much surprised and were not prepared, as i said. They we re were not prepared, as i said. They were not prepared, as i said. They were not ready prepared for that, and despite. We talk about sousse, and despite. We talk about sousse, and the bardo museum, we were not prepared. We were prepared for guests and friends, but not an attack. I would like to add, to understand something, you can also make other comparisons. 0perations bigger and worse than what happened in tunisia have happened after sousse and bardo elsewhere, in europe and elsewhere. We are not seeing Suchjudgments Europe and elsewhere. We are not seeing such judgments on those operations, or the reaction of police in those countries. Some of them are very sophisticated countries with sophisticated police systems, etc. So yes, we think that weve been treated a bit unfairly in this whole perception. Its not very coherent with the reality of tunisia, really. We continue to suffer with this misperception, i think. When you talk about security improvements, as you described them, and yet the Travel Advice, official Travel Advice, has not changed. That suggests, maybe, the Foreign Office for example is not convinced by the changes that have been made. What would you say to that . Welcome obviously, they are not convinced. But maybe, the contacts that i have with them is that they are very positive. They think the improvements are here and need to be maintained. And enhanced, in order for the Travel Advice to be reviewed. Now, it is many months, more than one year, since that happened in tunisia. Add to that the effo rts happened in tunisia. Add to that the efforts made by the government in cooperation with many of our partners, including the uk, many programmes are here. So, they are giving results. More importantly, the awareness of the population. The tunisian people know very well what a Terror Attack means. Now, we have experience, as you have had, you had a very bloody one in the uk. We can benefit from this experience, and so we appeal to more cooperation between our two countries. This is an international struggle. We should show solidarity between all of us, if we are to be serious about tackling this issue. Tunisian security as part of europes security. We are all concerned. Let me recall the second world war, where our soldiers were united to fight against the nazis. Today, it is the same. The same way of thinking, that we should adopt, instead of trying to throw responsibility on this part or the other, i think that we should show much more solidarity between all of us, and the idea that the enemy has one, and been united. Won. Im sure you know that people are right to be concerned, given what happened. What would be your message to people who ask you directly the question, is it safe to travel to tunisia today, what would you say to them . Would say that tunisia is as safe as many countries in europe. Weve been ranked, you may know, between the us and the uk in terms of the Terror Threat. The latest figures in 2016. I would say that we are as safe as many european and western countries. Yes. Im very grateful that you have joined western countries. Yes. Im very grateful that you havejoined us. Sorry to cut across you, ambassador. Thank you forjoining us today. Thank you forjoining us today. Thank you forjoining us today. Thank you very much. That was the ambassador, the tunisian ambassador to the uk. I apologise for interrupting him there. That was that bill giving his very clear view on todays position on in his ear nabil ammar. On todays position on in his ear nabilammar. On todays position on in his ear nabil ammar. Tunisia. My colleague ben brown has spent the day following events at the Royal Courts Ofjustice we canjoin him now. For the families of the victims, this whole inquest has been harrowing. They have had to listen to evidence about how their loved ones died and give evidence about how their loved ones died in front of them. The families were hoping the coroner would say that there was neglect by the holiday company, tui, the owners of thomson holidays. He would not do that for them. They are disappointed but will pursue that in the civil courts. They are serving tui. He was strong in his condemnation of Security Forces, suggesting they may have been cowardly in their responses to the attack. Richard walton was commander of the metropolitan Police Counterterrorism command and scented Tea M Counterterrorism command and scented team out easier. I asked if there had been a slow response. It could only have been prevented by good intelligence and arresting perpetrators before they carried out it could only have been prevented by good intelligence and arresting perpetrators before they carried out the attack. Once the attack has started, people are going to die, sadly. But, obviously, measures can be taken to reduce the impact of Terror Attacks. Now, whether those measures could actually have reduced it could only have been prevented by good Terror Attacks. Now, whether those measures could actually have reduced the numbers of People Killed is an open question. What about the foreign 0ffices advice to people, in the wake of the bardo attack, was it Strong Enough . Making it clear enough to british citizens what dangers there were in tunisia . It reflected advice at the time, it was difficult to say whether it was an isolated attack or if the threat would endure. In this case, the threat continued and there was a second attack. I stress that in hindsight, there should have been stronger advice but this advice was pretty strong at the time anyway. What about the responsibility of the Tour Operators and Companies Taking all of these tourists to places like sousse . How much responsibility do they have for the safety and security of their customers . Tour operators and the Hotel Industry had a duty of care. With this Terror Threat on the globe at the moment, where Islamic State are specifically targeting hotels and open spaces, it is incumbent on this industry to take on board the nature of the threat, and put in place the best mitigation measures. Training and undertaking risk and threat assessments, so they can mitigate the threat. Richard walton, the former head of the counterterror command. Im joined by demetrius danas, the lawyer for owen mitchell, representing some of the families. The families you represent wanted the coroner to say that there was neglect by tui, the holiday company. He would not say that but you are still going to sue them, can you say why . These families are relieved that this part of the proceedings are over. They will take a couple of days of rest, it has been an ordeal, then they will come back and continue theirfight then they will come back and continue their fight for justice in the civil courts. Can you tell us what exactly it is that tui, thomson holidays, failed to do, in your view, that you think it is worth pursuing in the courts . Yes, we heard evidence over the last seven weeks of a litany of failures. We heard that there was a lack of warning to the families, two other customers of the escalating threat of terror in tunisia. There was a lack of Security Personnel at the hotel. There was a lack of cameras, even knows that they did have, so

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