16.3 |
Military fatalities and the bereaved
302.
Mr Johnson
advised that the US Government had concluded that it would
not
be possible
for US witnesses to an incident to participate in the inquest. It
was now
considering
whether it could provide someone who could speak authoritatively to
a
US report.
303.
On 1 February
2007, Mr Walker stated that he wished to play in open court
a
video‑recording
taken by one of the A‑10 aircraft showing the attack on L Cpl
Hull’s
convoy.192
That
recording had been provided to the MOD by the US for use in the
BOI
into the
incident, and had subsequently been shown to the coroner by the MOD
on the
mistaken
premise that it was UK‑owned material.
304.
The following
day, the MOD sought and received an adjournment to the
inquest
to allow
time to consult the US on disclosure of the recording.
305.
These events
attracted a great deal of media attention, focusing
on:
•
claims that
the family of L Cpl Hull had previously been informed by the
MOD
that no
video‑recording of the incident existed;
•
the MOD’s
decision to seek an adjournment, thus delaying the inquest;
and
•
the US
Government’s position that US witnesses to an incident should
not
participate
in any subsequent UK inquest.
306.
On 4
February, The
Observer newspaper
quoted Ms Harman’s view:
“My letters
haven’t proved successful, phone calls haven’t proved
successful,
requests
from the coroners haven’t. It’s just not fair on the relatives to
sit in on
an inquest
and to know that they can’t ask questions. They’re entitled to know
the
truth from
our allies.”193
307.
The recording
was leaked to the press on 6 February.194
308.
Later that
day, the US told the Government that the recording could be
viewed
by the
coroner, an MOD representative and L Cpl Hull’s family
only.195
309.
On 19
February, prompted by concerns arising from the MOD’s support for
the
inquest
into L Cpl Hull’s death, Mr Ingram sought advice on whether
the MOD should
adopt a
fundamentally different BOI process. This is described earlier in
this Section.
192
Minute
Ferguson to APS/Min(AF), 2 February 2007, ‘Oxfordshire Inquests:
Release of
US Classified Information’.
193
The
Observer, 4
February 2007, Why won’t
the US tell us how Matty died?
194
The
Guardian, 6
February 2007, US allows
‘friendly fire’ tape in court.
195
Minute DCA
[junior official] to Tierney, 21 February 2007, ‘Note of meeting
with David Johnson
(Deputy Chief
of Mission, US Embassy)’.
129