Showing posts with label King's Cross. Show all posts
Showing posts with label King's Cross. Show all posts

Monday, 20 December 2010

Jermaine Lindsay, a circuit board and plastic bottles

It appears that the King's Cross and Russell Square scene evidence will finish without examining any forensic or pathology evidence for the presence of Jermaine Lindsay on the Piccadilly line train between King's Cross and Russell Square. This evidence was read for both Shehzad Tanweer and Mohammed Sidique Khan, not so for Lindsay. Instead, we are offered the following identifying documents as listed by DI Brunsden in his evidence on 17th December.

Let's work our way through this evidence by examining DI Brunsden's testimony during Hugo Keith's questioning:
Q. I want to ask you, please, about some exhibits that you found in area Z at the end of the first carriage. Could we have please on the screen [INQ10164-2]? Is this a plan that you made of the first carriage showing the zonal areas for the purposes of the searching?
A. Yes, that is correct, sir.
Q. On the far right of the plan towards the rear of the first carriage, can we see that you marked area Z?
A. Yes.



As we can see from the zonal plan above, area Z is by the single door at the very rear of carriage 1, some way from the blast site which was by the second set of double doors further down the carriage.
Q. In that area, area Z, you did you find a plastic bottle destroyed in the blast?
A. Yes, that's what it looked like to me.
Q. Why did that bottle seem to you to be out of place?
A. Obviously in the Anti-terrorist Branch we learn a reasonable amount about explosives, and we were very conscious of the fact that explosives can be made from peroxide-based materials, and peroxide can be contained in plastic bottles, and so I was concerned that this may have something to do with that.
Q. Was that bottle found in the near vicinity of a male body to whom you formally gave the exhibit JB3?
A. Yes, that is correct, sir.
Q. Was that person given a disaster victim identification number, for temporary purposes, 60022242?
A. I'm sorry, sir, I haven't got that record.
Q. Will you take it from me, then, on this occasion?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did that person, JB3, turn out subsequently to be the bomber --
A. Yes, that is correct.
Q. -- Lindsay?
A. Jermaine Lindsay.
So Lindsay's body was recovered some distance from the actual blast, although it may be fair to presume at this stage, despite the absence of a pathology report, that he hadn't suffered the almost complete disintegration, as described in evidence, of Shehzad Tanweer or Mohammed Sidique Khan.



Despite Brunsden's attempts to conflate a plastic bottle apparently 'destroyed in the blast' with peroxide-based explosives, even Brunsden would be aware that the plastic bottles in which peroxide is contained is, in and of itself, useless as an explosive material. Furthermore, whether hydrogen peroxide based explosives were something a policeman would be conscious of in July 2005 is highly unlikely, particularly given the opinions of explosives experts at the Ministry of Defence research centre at Fort Halstead:
Until July 2005 the scientists at Fort Halstead in Kent had never seen a hydrogen peroxide bomb.

Despite 130 years' experience gathering information on home-made and military bombs from across the world they had yet to come across the type used in the attacks in London on July 7 and 21.


Perhaps they should have asked DI Brunsden, who would appear to have been aware of hydrogen peroxide explosives just by dint of finding a plastic bottle!

We have been shown various types of containers in connection with the events of 7/7, none of which appear even to hint at the use of plastic bottles. Quite how a plastic bottle survived the initial explosion might also take some explaining.


Q. When the body was moved, did you find a piece of circuit board attached to his body and also attached to his body another piece of plastic bottle which, again, had had a segment cut from it?
A. Yes, that is correct, sir.
Q. So in very close proximity to his body?
A. Yes.
No date is given for the body removal although the Intelligence and Security Committee report claimed that the pathology on Lindsay was carried out on 10 July, along with Hussain and Khan. The ISC report also claims that Lindsay became a suspect due to the viewing of the Luton CCTV on 12 July, although we now know that the viewing of Luton station CCTV took place some two days prior to that, on 10 July.

Jermaine Lindsay's home at 10 Northern Rd Aylesbury was searched on 13 July, after his wife, Samantha, reported him missing. No mention is made during the inquest hearings of finding identification documents on the Piccadilly line train prior to this raid on his home, which would have led to Lindsay being identified swiftly, as appears to have been the case with both Tanweer and Khan. On the contrary, we wouldn't expect much paper ID to survive the blast.


What about the circuit board 'attached' to Lindsay's body? In what way was it attached? What type of circuit board was it? What is it alleged that the circuit board was for?

As the precise nature of the explosives alleged to have been used on 7 July has never been revealed, the requirement for a circuit board of any sort is implicit, rather than explicit. Further, with mobile phones, laptops, iPods, etc. on each and every passenger-filled tube train, so too are there circuit boards a-plenty, even without the presence of an implied suicide bomber.

Perhaps the reference to the circuit board is an allusion to the notion of a suicide bomber with explosives primed and strapped to the body. If so, this is incredibly misleading. The official narrative holds that all the explosions on trains on 7 July 2005 occurred on the floors of the carriages, which is at variance with the modus operandi of 'suicide bombers'.

During the trial of the men accused of a similar attempt 'to bomb the tube' on 21 July, all of whom had the conspiracy to cause explosions charges against them quietly dropped (due to the evidence of expert witness, Professor Hans Michels who claimed that the mixture they used was incapable of exploding) it was claimed that these hydrogen peroxide explosives and their detonation method were similar to that used on 7 July. There was no mention of circuit boards, just tubes and wires, bulbs and 9-volt batteries. Remnants of a 'circuit board' and wires were apparently also found via x-ray embedded close to Mohammed Sidique Khan's lumbar spine.
Q. Subsequently, on 17 July -- and you may find a reference to this on page 4 of your statement, if it's the same typed statement as us, at the bottom, Detective Inspector -- did you recover from the same area, area Z, an envelope addressed to Mr Lindsay which you produce as exhibit 1116?
A. That is correct.
Q. That is the envelope. You also found an exhibit JB117,our INQ8818, please, a driving licence -- no that's 117. Could we have 117 which is 8818, I think, please, unless I have my reference wrong. It may be it's not on Trial Director. I'm afraid I think the envelope is on Trial Director, but not the content. In any event, it was a counterpart driving licence in the name of Jermaine Lindsay, was it not?
A. I certainly found some correspondence in that name.
Q. Could we try 8818 one more time? No, don't worry, that's the envelope rather than the contents. In any event, it was a driving licence counterpart in his name. The following day, on 18 July, did you recover from the floor area, area Z, another piece of plastic that appeared to have been cut from a bottle?
A. Yes, correct, sir.
Q. In the same place, did you also find an exhibit JB123, a passport, a United Kingdom passport, in the name of Jermaine Lindsay?
A. Yes, that's correct.
Q. Could we have INQ8816 [INQ8816-2], please? We can see at the bottom there the remains of that passport, JB123.
A. Yes, sir.
Q. The exhibit had a number of different items in it. Split from it, did you also produce a certificate of mobile phone insurance, again in the name of Mr Lindsay?
A. Yes, that is correct, sir.
Q. Our INQ8815 [INQ8815-2], please. A certificate of mobile phone insurance, there we are. If we could just enlarge the number on the top left-hand corner --
A. Yes, that's correct, sir.
Q. -- we should see the name and address, and also split from that exhibit JB123, did you find a handwritten document, a Department of Work and Pensions letter, dated 9 May 2005?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Our INQ8814 [INQ8814-2], please. Could you just enlarge the top right-hand segment of that document, please? The significance of that a document addressed to him, but it contained handwriting on it, did it not?
A. Yes, it did, sir.
Q. On that front page, there was a reference there, wasn't there, to "one minute per train"?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. On the reverse side -- which should be the next page in the exhibit [], if you could enlarge the top half first, please -- there were a number of days in the week set
out, as well as journey times, making references to "Holborn", "West", possibly Westminster, "Paddington", "Oxford Circus"?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. In the bottom half of the page, if you would rotate it, please, days of the week with more detailed explanations of distances and times from certain London Underground
stations?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Could we perhaps return one more time -- I feel my luck might be better this time -- and try INQ8817 [INQ8817-2], please, for the DVLA letter, if it could be rotated -- I'm very grateful to Mr Suter -- there is the counterpart driving licence with the name Mr Lindsay.
A. Yes, I do recall it.
MR KEITH: Thank you very much, Officer, those are all the questions I have for you.
To summarise, and to ask the questions that are not asked by Counsel to the Inquests, Lindsay's body with circuit board and plastic bottle was discovered in area Z, some distance from the blast, despite the explosives being apparently manually detonated and occurring on the floor of the carriage. Lindsay's body was subjected to a pathology test on 10 July. His home was raided on 13 July, a day after the raids in Leeds, and then on 17 & 18 July, some 10 and 11 days after the event, identification documents are found in precisely the same area that Lindsay was recovered from, despite this not being the location of the blast. Is DI Brunsden questioned on why it took so long to discover these documents? Or how they ended up in the same area as Lindsay despite being separated from him?

Nobody has explained either why Jermaine Lindsay, if he were indeed intent on committing an act of suicide-bombing on 7/7 would think to spend £30 on insurance for his mobile phone on 24 June 2005, just 13 days prior to 7 July. Note also that the address is 10 Meadow Way not 10 Northern Road - the address that Hugo Keith claimed the police drove past after the apparent robbery on 27 May 2005, when Lindsay's red Fiat Brava was said to have been involved and this address traced via registration details. [See Fiat Brava Foxtrot Tango].

LADY JUSTICE HALLETT: Any questions? Mr Patterson?
Questions by MR PATTERSON
MR PATTERSON: Just one or two additional exhibits, please, Officer. I think there were other similar peroxide bottles that were found on the train that appeared to have the neck cut off them, rather like the one that you've already mentioned.
A. Yes, that is correct.
Q. I think there was one JB228, which was at area Y, so at that rear part of the carriage but --
A. On the other side.
Q. -- on the other side, exactly. There was a Nokia mobile phone, JB41, that was found in that first carriage near seat D --
A. Yes, sir.
Q. -- which was later examined and found to be a phone that had text messages consistent with having been used by the bomber, Jermaine Lindsay?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. In addition, another document rather like the one that we've just looked at, which showed handwritten notes about Underground stations, there was another one, JB265, which was a Tube map which had ringed Underground stations including King's Cross, Bond Street, Oxford Circus and so forth?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. So a similar document to the one we've looked at?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Finally, this: I think there were also assorted pieces of rucksack that were found in different areas, also in that carriage, which were later considered by the scientist Mr Clifford Todd?
A. We did find a number of items of that description, yes.
MR PATTERSON: Thank you very much. That's all I ask.
LADY JUSTICE HALLETT: Ms Gallagher?
Questions by MS GALLAGHER
MS GALLAGHER: Just one very brief matter. We've looked at on screen JB125, so the Department of Work and Pensions letter which has the times written on it. Can we go -- I'm not sure if it's on Trial Director -- it's [INQ9644-3]. Yes, it is. At the very top box there, it just confirms that the handwriting is definitely Jermaine Lindsay. Just for completeness, my Lady, I thought it appropriate to raise that at this stage.


More debris, again from another area at the rear of the carriage. opposite to where Lindsay's body is claimed to have been recovered, rather than under the train or around the blast site.

The damage to the Piccadilly line train and the area where the explosion occurred (note the lifting up of the carriage floor around the bottom left corner in this image). Area Z would be somewhere around the yellow and blue poles at the rear of the carriage near the middle left of this image and area Y on the opposite side.

The 7/7 Inquests have some explaining to do as the official story continues to fall apart.

Monday, 18 October 2010

Don't Mention The Fifth (or Sixth?) Man

The Report of the Official Account of the Bombings in London on 7th July 2005, published on 11th May 2006 (hereafter known as The Narrative), made it abundantly clear that the public should consider media reports regarding the so-called “fifth man” groundless. It stated:
“There was at the time of the attacks, reports of a “5th bomber”. It was thought, because of witness statements and CCTV, that there was a “5th man” with the group travelling down from Luton. Inquiries showed the individual was a regular commuter and he was eliminated from the inquiry. Also in the period immediately following the attacks, one man was arrested in connection with the investigation but he was released without charge. In subsequent weeks, a further man who had claimed to be the “5th bomber” was also arrested and later charged with wasting police time. There is no intelligence to indicate that there was a fifth or further bombers.”

In the opening week of the 7 July Inquests, we have heard from the witnesses mentioned above who claim to have seen a fifth (and in some cases a sixth) man - and the Home Office Narrative's claim that the man was a “regular commuter” seem odd at best – and misleading at worst.

The witnesses in question include Sylvia Waugh, who believes she saw the men outside the flat in Alexandra Grove, Leeds where it is claimed the bombs allegedly used on July 7th 2005 were manufactured. There is also Susan Clarke, who believes she saw the men in the car park at Luton Station. Joseph Martoccia was the witness whose statement to the police in July 2005 regarding his believed sighting of the men at King's Cross station was mutated by the media into a CCTV image, so successfully, that even a former newspaper editor appeared to believe he had actually seen such an image. Yet, as detailed in this previous post, no such image ever existed. This however hasn't stopped it being described as "iconic" and even the Press Complaints Commission agreed that an image that doesn't exist and hasn't been seen by anyone is still perfectly entitled to be described as an "iconic image".

Sylvia Waugh, who says she saw the men in the early morning of 7 July 2005 in Leeds, gave four witness statements to the police. Under oath at the Inquest, Mrs Waugh claimed that she regularly saw at least 6 people entering and leaving 18 Alexandra Grove. Significantly, Mrs. Waugh states that she finds it difficult to discern differences between 'coloured people'. Indeed, after stating on four occasions during her testimony that Jermaine Lindsay, who was, according to mobile phone evidence and the official 'narrative', some 160 miles away at the time, this difficulty does seem to be the case. However, despite this, it seems reasonable to assume that Mrs. Waugh is able to count:
Q. You remember a white car. Might that have been car B that you put on the map for the police?
A. It could have been.
Q. What about the other car, what colour was the other car?
A. Like a bluey colour.
Q. There were a group of men. Can you help us as to how
many you think you saw?
A. At least six.

A few moments later, Mrs. Waugh is reminded that she told police she had seen four men getting into what seems to be the Nissan Micra in which Mohammad Sidique Khan, Shehzad Tanweer and Hasib Hussain travelled to Luton from Leeds. She recalls seeing six men in total, and two cars. The other car, according to Hugo Keith, counsel to the inquest, has never been traced. Mrs. Waugh's testimony is very confused; on more than one occasion she denies what she had said in her police statements and at one point she denies something she was recorded as saying several minutes previously whilst under oath. However, her claim to have seen four men getting in the Micra, and six men in total, is interesting when compared to the statement Susan Clarke gave to the police in July 2005, which was read out in part whilst she was questioned under oath during the inquests:
Q. [Mr Patterson] "One car had one or two males in it. The other, a lilac-coloured Nissan, had four males leaving it, all carrying rucksacks. When asked, she described all the males as not white."
A. [Susan Clarke] He then goes on to say that you handed him the piece of paper that you've told us about.
Q. So pausing there, is that an accurate note of what you told the officer on that Tuesday?
A. As far as I remember, yes.
Q. So although today you've told us that you thought that it was four, possibly five, men associated with those two cars, within days of the incident, the very first time you spoke to the police you were saying that it was two men from one of the cars, four men from the other car, all carrying rucksacks?
A. Yes.

Joseph Martoccia, a commuter who believes he saw the accused at King's Cross mainline station on the morning of 7th July 2005, also said he saw six men:
Q. Have you marked X as the spot where you came across a group of men?
A. Correct.
Q. Do you recall how many there were?
A. Yes. At the time, I said between four and six.
I wasn't entirely certain of the number.

Mr. Martoccia goes on, however, to say that the men caught his attention because they were in a huddle. It was this behaviour that led him to initially deduce they were probably a sports team.

Interestingly, although Mr. Martoccia contacted the police the following day, he was not asked to identify the men from photographs until almost a year later, a somewhat odd approach in what was termed by Sir Ian Blair as "the largest criminal inquiry in English history". When shown a picture of Jermaine Linsday during his testimony to the Inquests, Martoccia stated that he did not remember seeing him. Moreover, Martoccia said that the man he saw heading towards the Piccadilly line – who, one would presume on the basis of the official 'narrative', would be most likely to be Lindsay, who stands accused of causing the explosion on the Piccadilly line train – was instead Hasib Hussain; the man accused of being responsible for the number 30 bus incident.

Detective Inspector Kindness of Scotland Yard's Counter-terrorism Command gave an intriguing response when specifically questioned by Mr. Gareth Patterson, representing four bereaved families, over the number of men witnessed:
Q. You're probably aware, Inspector, of why I'm asking you these questions. Presumably you were told that there's a witness, Susan Clarke, who told the police quite early on that there may have been more than four people in and around those two cars. Were you aware of that? Did you look for the number of people around those cars?
A. Yes, at the time, when we were viewing the CCTV, we were comfortable with the amount of people that were there and that we'd managed to track them to the position where we got decent CCTV images that we could say, yes, there are that number of people.

Shortly after this, Mr. Patterson is interrupted by Hugo Keith QC, who expresses concern over his questions “because they do appear to me to be designed to leave the impression that either there was another person at large or that in some way the investigation has been inadequate or has not properly pursued leads available at the time.” After further admonishment by both Mr. Keith and Lady Justice Hallet, Mr. Patterson is able to continue:
MR PATTERSON: If we pause it now, perhaps. Can we see four figures walking off, Inspector?
A. Yes, we can, yes.
Q. Is there a figure who hovers and lingers between the two cars for a period of time?
A. Yes, there is a person there, yes. I think that's the person that exited that vehicle that just arrived.
Q. Was that something that was investigated and looked into to see where that additional fifth person --
A. The individuals around the car were -- their movements were assessed, yes.
Q. Is that something that you dealt with or that somebody else dealt with?
A. I didn't personally follow this individual away, no.

Later that same session, Ms. Caoilfhionn Gallagher, representing five bereaved families, continues a similar line of questioning:
Q. You said in your evidence earlier: "At the time of viewing the CCTV, we were comfortable with the amount of people that were there." That's for your reference, my Lady, page 180 of the
transcript today, lines 10 to 14. That was referring to that footage of Luton rail station that we've referred to earlier. Can you just go to page 2 of this document, Inspector?
A. Yes.
Q. Can you see the entry at 7.19 about halfway down the page? This is an entry by DC Stephen Bain who was viewing it on 10 or 11 July. Can you see at the end of that entry at 7.19, after he describes four persons at the rear of the vehicle, he says: "Fifth person remains at vehicle, movement between both, fifth person towards Luton station, distant view." Then a little further down the page, 7.23: "Fifth male through ground level barriers from car park", and there's continued references to the fifth male there, so two more entries at 7.23. So did you discuss with DC Stephen Bain the fact that, on viewing the footage, he had originally thought there were five males at the car?
A. I think the footage that you are referring to is what we have just played on the screen. What he has sighted is the fifth man and what he has done, quite rightly, ishe's tracked the movements from small image to Luton where you can get the big image and you can identify the person and the relationship with the other four. So for me, yes, we did discuss it at the time, definitely, because we needed to identify -- when I say that we were happy with four, by the time they got to the station, there was a group of four that we felt were -- we were comfortable that those were the four that were going to be engaged -- that were engaged in the activity. So it's right that he's identified it, because we've
seen when we've viewed it that there is a fifth person that arrives. The officer has noted it in his log and he's tracked him to the station.
Q. But you were satisfied at that time, and you discussed with DC Stephen Bain that, in fact, the fifth person was unconnected to those four males, or is that a view
you've come to subsequently?
A.I can't recall if we discussed it in those terms, but we were certainly looking at the movements around the vehicle and identifying fully how many people of relevance to us were there and, certainly, others who were sighted we were looking to eliminate in terms of movements with the four bombers.

In his opening statement to the inquest, Hugo Keith QC confirmed that a rucksack containing “four further improvised explosive devices” was found in the Nissan Micra, plus eight other devices. Why were devices put into a rucksack if not to be carried by somebody? This question, and the question as to why all three witnesses who claim to have seen the men at various stages en-route to London numbering between four and six men each time, it appears, are not of concern to the counsel to the inquest. Indeed, both Hugo Keith QC and Lady Justice Hallet's attitude to Mr. Patterson's questioning regarding the matter, gave the sense that suggesting that any more than the four men were involved is a subject completely untouchable by the inquest.

The Narrative claimed in 2006 that “there is no evidence of a fifth bomber”. In fact, as shown by the evidence given under oath to the Inquests, there is "evidence of a fifth bomber". But, much like “the war” in Basil Fawlty's hotel, nobody is allowed to mention it.

Sunday, 17 October 2010

The Final Curtain - "CCTV rich" to "CCTV FAIL!"

"In the next image, this is the last sighting of Lindsay, Khan and Tanweer. This was the first CCTV sighting that we had on the unit on this enquiry as they pass through towards the underground station."

DI Kindness, to the 7/7 Inquests 13 October 2010
Q. [Hugo Keith QC] Can you recall on what day you first spotted a number of men walking through the King's Cross area, in particular through the Thameslink station carrying rucksacks?
A. [Detective Inspector Ewan Kindness] It was on 11 July 2005, sir.
Q. So on the Monday?
A. It was, yes.
Q. Can you recall what it was about the appearance of those men on the CCTV that alerted you to the fact that you might have identified the bombers?
A. My officer, who was engaged in the actual CCTV recovery, was ex-military. He saw the four individuals walking through and they were walking two by two and he felt it was significant. They were carrying large rucksacks and he brought my attention to it. I concurred with him that it was a matter of priority for us.

On Day 4 of the Inquests it became clear that the image above was the last piece of CCTV, according to the Metropolitan Police, that exists of the four accused together anywhere near King's Cross underground station and also the last of Khan, Tanweer or Lindsay.

CCTV footage of Hasib Hussain outside King's Cross was shown to the Inquests and released to the press. However, no other footage exists, we are told, that shows the movements of Khan, Tanweer or Lindsay after the King's Cross Thameslink was captured. Why not? Especially when on 11 July 2005, Deputy Chief Constable of the British Transport Police, Andy Trotter, boldly announced, "The Underground network is a CCTV-rich environment".

The exchange below, between Mr Patterson QC, counsel for the bereaved, and Detective Inspector Ewan Kindness, provides further details. Details which only become apparent to keen listeners in attendance at the Inquests or eagle-eyed readers of the transcripts because, as usual, major show-stoppers in the official "narrative" of 7/7 are regularly and completely ignored by the press.
MR PATTERSON: Officer, we then watched the footage -- and I don't think we need to play this, thank you -- of the men entering the railway station. In fact, we don't actually see them buying tickets, do we, in the footage? Were you able to find any footage or CCTV evidence that helps to explain how they got their tickets?
A.[DI EWAN KINDNESS] I can't recall the tickets being purchased.
Q. Then in terms of the journey south, I think you told us that there were no cameras on board the train, is that right?
A. That's correct.
Q. When they got to King's Cross, in terms of the available footage, although there were quite a few cameras at King's Cross station, is it right that the only cameras that were recording for the relevant time was a camera in the tunnel?
A. There were 76 -- it was a temporary system. King's Cross underground had a temporary system in place. 76 cameras moving in sequence from one second at a time. Fortunately for us, at the appropriate period, between 8.30 and 8.50, it sat for 20 minutes on that one camera and that allowed us, at that period, they came through and we got the first sighting.
Q. Is there any footage of the mainline station as opposed to the Thameslink station?
A. When you say "mainline", do you mean mainline King's Cross?
Q. Yes.
A. At some distance away?
Q. Yes, is there any footage, CCTV footage -- you referred earlier today to many, many hours of footage that would be relevant to the emergency response.
A. I mean, King's Cross mainline footage was that which Hasib Hussain has been identified on, so that's some of it. Of course, it's quite a large estate, but there is definitely King's Cross mainline footage.
Q. So if anyone wants to look at footage of the platform or of the escalator, there is footage that has survived of all of those different areas of the mainline station?
A. I would -- I mean, we'd have to check the schedule, sir, but from my understanding, that would have been seized and certainly was viewed, so it would be accessible, yes.
Q. Was it possible to find CCTV footage showing the area of the station where the witness, Joseph Martoccia,
A. Could you just provide me a little bit of information about what he sighted, sir, just to refresh my memory?
Q. He was a witness who described seeing the group. He described four to six Asian males with rucksacks, and hugging and euphoric I think --
A. Certainly euphoric, but, no, there was nothing, we looked for that, sir, and there was nothing at all.
Q. That wasn't covered by cameras?
A. No.
Q. In terms of the platforms and the Circle Line heading west and the movements of Mohammed Sidique Khan, presumably you looked but that wasn't covered?
A. That's correct.
Q. And heading east and the movements of Shehzad Tanweer, presumably you looked --
A. Yes, we did.
Q. -- but there was no coverage of him boarding the train?
A. At King's Cross?
Q. At King's Cross.
A. No.

From this we learn that "a temporary system" of 76 cameras was installed at King's Cross, but that it malfunctioned for 20 minutes between the crucial period of approximately 8.30am - 8.50am on the 7 July 2005. This "malfunction" left just one of 76 cameras actually recording CCTV footage. Fortunately for the investigating officers, the one camera which remained in operation happened to be the one which was trained on the tunnel between the King's Cross Thameslink station and King's Cross mainline station. This one CCTV camera captured the image shown above.

The distance between the Thameslink tunnel where this image was captured and the King's Cross underground lines is shown on this map:


Note: The account of this image being the key that led the investigation back to Luton station has been thoroughly discredited under questioning by Ms Gallagher QC, counsel for the bereaved. This is examined in detail here.

This means that:
  • There is no CCTV footage from the underground showing Hasib Hussain allegedly on the Northern Line,
  • There is no CCTV footage showing the "iconic" but never seen image of the four men hugging euphorically,
  • There is no CCTV from the ticket gates, subways or platforms showing any of the four accused at King's Cross.
It isn't clear yet whether any CCTV exists from the trains as Patterson didn't question DI Kindness on this issue but, given the following account from Rachel "North", it would be surprising if footage from the trains didn't exist. At a meeting in May 2006 between survivors and bereaved and the then Home Secretary, John Reid, Rachel "North" noted:
Over to the questions. The first question was from a man who lost his boyfriend at Russell Square who wanted to know if there were CCTV images of the bombers on the trains, and whether he could see the last minutes of his loved one. The Counter Terrorism representative said that there were, but they had not been released, as the post-bomb CCTV images 'were disturbing'. Dr. Reid promised to investigate whether images of the train before the bomb could be shown privately to the bereaved man. It sounded like the CCTV images were not of good quality.

If DI Kindness' statement is correct, and the image shown above is the last sighting of Khan, Tanweer and Lindsay, any footage that might exist from the trains will not show any of the three accused.

So, what about any other crucial CCTV from the events of 7 July 2005 that might go some way to proving that the four accused were actually on the trains and the number 30 bus?

There are reams of footage showing Hasib Hussain in and around King's Cross and the Euston Road, but what about the footage from Hussain's infamous trip to MacDonalds, where it is claimed he inserted a 9 volt battery, purchased minutes before from W.H. Smith, into his 'malfunctioning explosives'?
Q. Finally this, Inspector: the movements of Hasib Hussain, you've shown us the various bits of footage of his movements and of the buses. Was there any footage from inside McDonalds restaurant where he seemed to be present for some 8 minutes?
A. There was no footage. We recovered the CCTV from McDonalds, but unfortunately the system was -- the recording was stopped prior to him going into that location.
Q. So there were cameras, but for some reason they weren't recording?
A. There were cameras and, in fact, you see the office manager in the office going to the video machine and switching the "stop" button and it stops.

How about footage from the Number 91 bus that Hasib is alleged to have boarded before allegedly switching to the Number 30 at Euston Station?
Q. Then finally the buses. The number 91 bus that he was believed to have taken along the Euston Road, no cameras inside that bus?
A. No, sir, no.
Q. Is that because there were cameras and they had malfunctioned or --
A. I can't recall the reasons why, but it was a main priority for us to find him on the bus, as you can see by our actions on the night of the 7th, to get the route 30 bus footage to identify him. So when we had the witness statement stating that -- the 91 bus, that was a priority for us to identify it and, for whatever reason, we didn't identify that footage. So I can't say at the moment whether that was malfunctioned or it wasn't there, it was recorded over, but for one of those reasons why we didn't have access to it.
Q. The same with the number 30 bus, there were cameras, but it wasn't --
A. The route 30 bus had malfunctioned earlier in the year, so we identified it that night, we viewed it that night at the laboratory, and it showed footage from earlier in the year, nothing of the date in question.
Source: Transcripts, 14 October 2010
Afternoon session, p61, lines 13 on
So, no footage of Hasib Hussain from the Euston Road boarding the Number 91 bus, nor is there any footage from Euston station of him boarding the Number 30.

For over five years J7 have been calling on the government to 'RELEASE THE EVIDENCE" but, as a result of the revelations during the first week of the Inquests, perhaps we need to change our demand to, "WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE?"

Saturday, 16 October 2010

A CCTV Fuss About Nothing?

All witnesses to the Inquest take an oath. The oath is to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but...

12 July In the early morning, the police search premises in the West Yorkshire area, including the homes of Khan, Tanweer and Hussain and 18 Alexandra Grove.

Report received that 4 people by two vehicles were seen putting on rucksacks at Luton Station car park. One of the vehicles was now missing but one remained in the car park.

By lunchtime, police working on the theory that there is a King’s Cross link to the 3 train bombs, all being broadly equidistant from there at the time of the explosions, identify a CCTV image of 4 men with rucksacks at King’s Cross. They recognise Tanweer first from a DVLA photograph.

The police identify CCTV images of the same 4 at Luton Station. The Micra is found at Luton and examined. 9 controlled explosions were carried out on material found in it. The Brava, which had been towed away because it did not have a parking ticket is later traced to Lindsay. There had been a report on the Police National Computer that the Brava may have been used in an aggravated burglary (see paragraph 69) and Lindsay was named as the registered keeper for the car.
During the morning session of Wednesday 13 October 2010, the Inquest heard from Detective Inspector Kindness of Scotland Yard's Counter-terrorism Command. After being sworn, DI Kindness was questioned by Counsel to the Inquests, Hugo Keith, and stated for the record that the identification of the four accused at King's Cross Thameslink, and thus the link made to the Luton and Bedford areas, occurred on 11 July 2005:
Q. Can you recall on what day you first spotted a number of men walking through the King's Cross area, in particular through the Thameslink station carrying rucksacks?
A. It was on 11 July 2005, sir.
Q. So on the Monday?
A. It was, yes.
Q. Can you recall what it was about the appearance of those men on the CCTV that alerted you to the fact that you might have identified the bombers?
A. My officer, who was engaged in the actual CCTV recovery, was ex-military. He saw the four individuals walking through and they were walking two by two and he felt it was significant. They were carrying large rucksacks and he brought my attention to it. I concurred with him that it was a matter of priority for us.

Under further questioning by Mr Keith, DI Kindness explains the manner in which Luton was discovered as the point at which the four accused met and travelled to London:
Q. Did you then concentrate your examination upon CCTV relating to the railway network to the north of London?
A. Indeed, sir, yes, and we were looking at the route of the -- the Thameslink route up through Bedford and Luton and looking for fast-time CCTV recovery of those stations to see where the bombers had access to rail network.
Q. Were you able to access CCTV relating to, not just the stations, but the car parks at those stations, the entry points and the foyers?
A. Yes, we were, sir.
Q. What did you discover?
A. We were able to identify that the individuals had arrived at Luton underground station earlier that morning and boarded a train to London.
Q. Can you recall when it was that you discovered that they had boarded the railway network at Luton?
A. I think it was on the 12th, sir.
Q. So the Tuesday?
A. Yes.
Q. As a result of that process, how many of the men were you able to identify initially as having used the Luton railway station?
A. We were able to identify all of the men had accessed -- the four men had accessed via Luton railway station.
Q. Were you able to identify the cars that they used at the station?
A. Yes, we were.
Q. So you were able to identify that they had arrived in two cars, a Nissan Micra and a red Fiat Brava?
A. That's correct, sir.

Note that DI Kindness is neither asked for, nor offers, any explanation for why Luton was chosen from at least eight possible stations that the 07.00 Bedford - Brighton Thameslink train would have stopped at on the morning of 7 July. Any investigation looking for potential al Qaeda "suicide bombers" would perhaps concentrate their efforts instead on Luton Parkway station, with its links to Luton Airport, and one stop closer to London than is Luton station. Eight stations would have furnished a lot of CCTV footage to examine within a maximum of 24 hours between the identification of the four men on the 11 July 2005 and the Luton link on the 12 July 2005.

One theory, indeed the one favoured by the Home Office narrative, is that Luton was chosen due to the witness sighting of four men putting on rucksacks at Luton station, as received on the 12 July 2005. This witness, Susan Clarke, gave her evidence to the Inquest during the afternoon session of 13 October 2010. She describes handing a note of the cars she had seen at Luton station on the morning of the 7 July to a British Transport Police officer at St. Pancras station. This note was handed over on Tuesday 12 July 2005. [Transcript, 13 October 2010, afternoon session - page 14, line 14 on]. Officers attended her place of work at 11.45am on 12 July 2005 and Ms Clarke was interviewed for two and a half hours at Holborn police station.

So this would appear to be how the Luton station CCTV came to be favoured and examined over and above seven other possible stations of focus. Or, at least it would be if either the narrative or DI Kindness were actually relating the facts of the matter. Fortunately for the bereaved and the wider public, the carefully plotted course of Mr Keith's questioning was exposed by further questions interjected by Mr Patterson and Ms Gallagher, the counsels for the bereaved. However, nobody would be aware of this through reading any of the press reports covering the inquest proceedings.

A CCTV viewing log was discovered in evidence that had shortly before been posted on the Lextranet system that the Inquests are utilising to share evidence between the counsel and interested persons. Mr Hill, representing the Metropolitan Police Service, attempted an objection to this line of questioning and Judge Hallett compounded the issue by reiterating the evidence so far:
LADY JUSTICE HALLETT: Strict rules of evidence, you're obviously right, Mr Hill. Do I take it, to try to cut this short, Mr Kindness, that essentially you were responding to somebody -- somebody else has got information and they've said, "All right, Detective Inspector Kindness, off you go, we want you to look at Luton and Bedford", is that really -- or did the information come to you personally?
A [DI Ewan Kindness]. The information -- Luton and Bedford was seized, my Lady, as a result of the sighting at -- as a result of the sighting at King's Cross Thameslink which had been generated by the CCTV viewing by the CCTV team. So it was natural that we would follow the route up the line. It's as simple as that.
LADY JUSTICE HALLETT: I think this is a fuss about nothing, Mr Hill, with respect.

Here's the kicker:
MS GALLAGHER: You say that you focused upon Luton station as a result of information received on 11 July. Is that right?
A. [DI Ewan Kindness] That's correct, yes.
Q. In that document which I've made reference to, I think you have it before you, my Lady, the Anti-terrorist Branch SO13 record -- do you have that document before you?
A. No, I don't, no.
Q. Is it possible for a copy to be provided?
MR KEITH: You can have my copy. (Handed)
MS GALLAGHER: This is a record of an officer viewing CCTV. It seems to be by a DC Stephen Bain. Was he part of the same team?
A. Yes, he was, yes.
Q. If you just look in the box at the top, it's on the left, five boxes down, "Date viewing commenced: 10 July 2005, 20.00 hours" and "Date viewing ended:11 July 2005, 23.30".
A. Yes.
Q. So is it possible that, in fact, that information was received on 10 July rather than 11 July, Inspector?
A. [DI Ewan Kindness] That's absolutely correct. It's an error. It should have been the 10th.

This leaves the one crucial and compelling question: Why were the police reviewing CCTV footage from Luton station and car park on 10 July 2005, when the accused apparently weren't identified on King's Cross Thameslink CCTV until a day later, 11 July 2005?

More importantly, why has it been deemed necessary to concoct the story about the discovery of CCTV at Luton on 12 July 2005?

The Inquests now need to scrutinise the actual manner in which the four accused were identified, and re-examine how, when and why the link to Luton station was made and how, when and why the CCTV was recovered, as the evidential log shows, by 10 July 2005.



On the fourth day of the inquests we learn that this one image of the four accused entering the tunnel from King's Cross Thameslink is the only CCTV image captured of the four men together anywhere near King's Cross underground station on 7 July 2005. More to follow...