The Observer - 04.08.2019

Section:OBS 2N PaGe:21 Edition Date:190804 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 3/8/2019 18:04 cYanmaGentaYellowbla

• The Observer
  News 04.08.19 21

Relatives of the 22 victims of the

Manchester Arena terrorist attack

who are applying for legal aid for

representation at the forthcoming

inquest are being made to fi ll in a

17-page questionnaire and declare

whether they have any “valuable pos-

sessions” worth more than £500 that

could be sold to help cover costs.

Campaign groups have attacked

the legal aid application process –

which may still end in claims being

rejected – as “cruel and intrusive”.

They back calls for families whose

loved ones are killed in terrorist

attacks to automatically receive legal

aid for inquests rather than be forced

through the means-testing process.

“The funding process is intru-

sive and protracted and adds further

trauma,” said Deborah Coles , director

of the Inquest charity, which supports

bereaved families. “The Ministry of

Justice perpetuates the myth that

inquests are informal and families

can represent themselves. This is dis-

honest and fails to confront the reality

of the uneven playing fi eld that con-

fronts families at complex inquests.”

The police, emergency and security

services will receive taxpayer-funded

representation when the inquest into

the Manchester bombing of May 2017

starts next April. But insuffi cient legal

representation for the victims’ fami-

lies has prompted concerns that key

questions may go unanswered.

“Families face multiple state law-

yers , who frequently put defence of

their interests above the search for the

truth,” Coles said. “The past few years

have seen an unprecedented focus on

how agencies investigate contentious

deaths and there have been repeated

calls for reform so families have auto-

matic access to legal aid for inquests.

This inequality ... is the single great-

est obstacle to bereaved families.”

Families of the eight victims killed

in the 2017 London Bridge attack

learned last month – just as the

Patel attacked

after calling

for criminals

‘to feel terror’

Diane Abbott yesterday led criticism

of Priti Patel, after the home secretary

suggested she wanted criminals “to

literally feel terror” once she begins

her law-and-order reforms.

Patel indicated a sharp right turn

in the government’s approach to

crime when she told a newspaper

her focus would be on “restating our

commitment to law and order”, add-

ing: “Quite frankly, with more police

offi cers out there , I want [criminals]

to literally feel terror at the thought

of committing offences.”

Abbott, shadow home secretary,

responded to the remarks, made in

the Daily Mail, saying that “soaring

crime” would not be fi xed by “tough

rhetoric”. “We need more offi cers and

resources for the police to work with

our communities, not to risk alien-

ating them with draconian powers,”

she said.

The Liberal Democrat home affairs

spokesman, Ed Davey, said: “Priti

Patel’s notion that making people

terrifi ed of the police will cut crime

shows just how out of touch she is

with what’s leading some young peo-

ple into crime in the fi rst place,” he

said. “So often young people say they

carry knives because they are afraid of

other young people in gangs.

“We need more police so young

people can feel less afraid , not

because the police add to their fears.”

Deborah Coles, director of the char-

ity Inquest, wrote on Twitter that

Patel’s comments were “irresponsible

and dangerous”, and ignored “wider

social inequalities”. It is “rule by ter-

ror,” she added.

Boris Johnson’s appointment of

Patel was a reversal of fortunes for

the former international develop-

ment secretary, who was sacked from

government two years ago for secretly

and unoffi cially meeting Israeli min-

isters , businesspeople and a lobbyist.

Families of Manchester terror victims

must declare valuables to get legal aid

signatures. He described fi lling in the

legal aid application form as horren-

dous. “I had to provide evidence that

me and Kirsty were a couple as we

were not married. When you are vul-

nerable and grieving, that’s the last

thing you want to do.”

It was not until the last week of

the inquest that Hodder learned his

application for legal aid had been

rejected. Fortunately, a law fi rm pro-

vided pro-bono representation.

“The offi cial reason they give is

that an inquest is not adversarial in

nature so there is no need for legal

representation, but that doesn’t make

any sense as they gave legal aid to the

perpetrator’s family. And there are

adversarial elements: witnesses

are cross-examined in great

detail, there are complex argu-

ments made. Weeks of CCTV

footage and tens of thousands

of pages of documents had to be

studied by my legal team.”

In May, a letter from the jus-

tice committee to then justice

secretary David Gauke said it

inquest was wrapping up – that they

will not receive legal aid. However,

it emerged that the widow of the

attack’s ringleader, Khuram Butt , was

entitled to public funding.

Questions the Manchester Arena

families will have to answer include

whether they own a car or a time-

share, and whether they have children

or a partner in employment. Guidance

issued with the application says arti-

cles of value must also be considered.

“Examples might be where the

individual collects antiques or owns

a valuable painting. Items of jewellery

are included, save for engagement,

wedding or eternity rings, which are

disregarded. The individual is asked

to declare the value of such items in

their application and may be required

to provide evidence of value.”

James Hodder , whose partner

Kirsty Boden , a nurse, was killed in

the London Bridge attack while help-

ing others, has launched a petition

calling for families bereaved in ter-

ror attacks to be entitled to legal aid.

It has gathered more than 250,000

was “fundamentally unfair for public

bodies to have legal representation

at the highest level of expertise while

bereaved families are unrepresented”.

Coles said: “The treatment of ter-

rorist victims is cruel and inhumane

and is symptomatic of the dysfunc-

tional and unfair process for fund-

ing family representation at inquests .”

Figures obtained via a freedom

of information request show that in

2017, the Ministry of Justice spent

£4.2m representing prison offi cers

at inquests, while bereaved families

received only £92,000 in legal aid.

A ministry spokesman said: “We

understand how distressing the

inquest process will be for relatives

of those who died in the Manchester

Arena bombing, and we’re mak-

ing changes to ensure there is more

legal support ... Aid has always been

means-tested and rightly counts not

just a person’s income or savings

but expensive assets like sports cars,

antiques and jewellery. It is possible

for the Legal Aid Agency to waive the

means test if appropriate.”

Spare relatives ‘cruel’

17-page questionnaire

to win funds to pay for

a lawyer at inquests,

campaigners urge

Damien Gayle

Jamie Doward

People comfort

each other at

a memorial to

victims of the

Manchester

bombing.

Photograph by

Leon Neal/Getty

‘I had to provide

evidence that we

were a couple. When

you are grieving

that’s the last thing

you want to do’

James Hodder, below

reason they give is

is not adversarial in

is no need for legal

ut that doesn’t make

y gave legal aid to the

mily. And there are

ments: witnesses

mined in great

complex argu-

Weeks of CCTV

s of thousands

ments had to be

gal team.”

r from the jus-

o then justice

Gauke said it

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