Ben Ireland reports from the Royal Courts of Justice in London
A previous terror attack in Tunisia suggested to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) that there could be “copy-cat” attacks in the country, an inquest has heard.
Thirty-eight people – including 30 Britons – were massacred in a shooting in Sousse three months after 22 people, including one Brit, were killed at the Bardo museum in the Tunisian capital Tunis.
During the inquests of 30 British travellers which began today, an FCO spokeswoman said it had been monitoring the situation and demanded heightened security in resorts such as Sousse.
Jane Marriott, then director of the Middle East and North Africa at the FCO, said: “Tunisia had turned into a much more unstable country at this point.”
When asked by Samantha Leek QC whether the FCO believed the Bardo attack could lead to “copy-cat” incidents, Marriott said: “Correct”.
But the official travel advice level was not changed. It remained on a ‘general’ threat of terrorism. Instead of warning people against travelling to Tunisia, the FCO decided to “strengthen” the language of its advice in terms of the specific threat of terrorism.
Marriott denied that protecting the Tunisian economy was a factor in sticking with the same threat level of terrorism.
“The only thing that influenced ministers or officials is the impact on the safety and security of British nationals,” she said.
In the wake of Bardo, Poland – which saw three of its citizens murdered – warned its residents not to travel to Tunisia, but other European countries such as France and Germany had not.
Minutes of meetings between British ambassadors, tour operators and Tunisian officials were shown to the court, which revealed that the government had asked Tunisia to increase security around beaches and entrances to hotels.
She stressed that although the British government made security recommendations to Tunisia, those recommendations were not a prerequisite of setting threat levels.
Government records used as evidence also showed that tour operators had “no plans to change summer 2015 programmes” following Bardo, which was “probably due to the no refunds policy that British tour operators are practising”.
Earlier in the hearing, the court heard that four CCTV cameras at the Imperial Hotel were not working at the time of the attack and footage from just seven of the hotel’s 16 cameras – and one from a nearby beach hut – was made available.
The Metropolitan Police’s Detective Superintendent Mark Gower said the force only gleaned evidence from two cameras. The hearing also heard that there was no “control room” so local police could not track the CCTV live.
Earlier in the opening day of the inquests, the court was shown a re-created walkthrough of the gunman’s footsteps, using 3D imaging technology.
Photos of the British victims were used in the areas where they were shot by Rezgui, and in mobile phone footage filmed by a local man who chased after Rezgui bodies were pixilated.
In her opening statements, Samantha Leek QC from solicitors Bircham Dyson Bell, said: “He [the gunman] systematically took the lives of 38 people who had travelled to Tunisia for enjoyment, luxury and relaxation. Thirty-eight people who had done nothing to provoke this attack, individually or collectively; 38 people who needlessly lost their lives.”
See also
Health and safety audit ‘did not include security checks’
Imperial Marhaba ‘had six working CCTV cameras’
Tui destination manager feared ‘hotel scenario’
Authorities had plans for new tourist police squadron prior to attack
FCO stance queried by Tui legal chief
Operators ‘carried out no security assessments’
Bargain prices hailed as ‘great success’ before attack