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Oxfordshire Inquests

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence and I wish to make the following statement to the House about inquests due to be held in the Oxfordshire area. All casualties suffered by the UK armed forces are a source of profound regret. UK service personnel have put their lives on the line to help the Iraqis build a strong, stable and democratic Iraq and we cannot pay high enough tribute to the job they are doing, or the sacrifice some of them have made, We are committed to assisting families of UK service personnel who have died in Iraq when their loved ones are returned to the UK. Today we are announcing information about the conduct of inquests by the Oxfordshire Coroner, Mr. Nicholas Gardiner, and how we intend to enable him to conduct expeditious inquests in his jurisdiction including into the deaths of servicemen and women who have died in Iraq. Background Inquests are to serve two main purposes, first to account publicly, in the public interests, for the cause of death, and secondly to give an opportunity for the bereaved family to ask questions about the death. Each death of a serviceman or woman killed in an operation overseas whose body is repatriated to England and Wales is subject to an inquest. The inquest—both the investigation into the death and the holding of the public hearing into the death—is conducted by the coroner with jurisdiction which derives from where the body lies. In the case of deaths of servicemen and women whose bodies are flown into Brize Norton military airbase, the Oxfordshire Coroner Mr. Gardiner has jurisdiction. Over the last 12 months, in addition to the non-armed forces inquests for which he has jurisdiction, Mr. Gardiner, his deputy coroners and one other coroner have conducted 30 inquests into the deaths of servicemen who have died in Iraq. There remain 59 inquests to be concluded into the deaths of service personnel killed in Iraq, and 11 inquests of civilians whose bodies were flown into Brize Norton. This does include the five deaths which occurred on 1 May in the helicopter crash in Basra and the two deaths which occurred on 13 May but not the two deaths from the 28 May bomb explosions near Basra. Further support for the coroner to conduct inquests on deceased armed forces personnel The Government have made available to the Oxfordshire coroner the resources to enable him to deal with the outstanding inquests:"Assistant Deputy Coroner—Sir Richard Curtis, a retired High Court judge, will be available from the end of June (subject of course to a number of other commitments), for the coroner to appoint as necessary.""Assistant Deputy Coroner— Selena Lynch will be available to begin on case papers from the week commencing 5 June, and is available from then until early July and then from late July onwards, for the coroner to appoint.""Assistant Deputy Coroner—Andrew Walker who is available to begin on case papers next week and is then available for two weeks in August and then from mid-September onwards.""Two additional coroner's officers—Thames Valley police have confirmed that they have two officers available who can be in place by the end of next week.""Additional member of support staff—This is available immediately.""Recording equipment—To enable two further courts to operate simultaneously." Progress in the remaining inquests The Oxfordshire coroner expects, with the additional resources, which have not hitherto been at his disposal, to be able to conclude those inquests of servicemen and women where the Ministry of Defence have completed their own inquiries and case papers have been prepared by the end of the year (we know of 30 cases in this category). With the additional resources the coroner would also expect to conclude inquests of civilians killed in Iraq where he has been provided with reports and other information (we know of three cases in this category) by the end of this year. We intend to keep the House informed on a quarterly basis about progress through the remaining inquests. We attach a table, which outlines the number of inquests outstanding and the date of death in each case. Liaison with the Next of Kin It is of the greatest importance that the next of kin have full information about the progress on the inquest of their deceased next of kin. The extra coroner resources will enable this to happen, in addition to the normal liaison between the Ministry of Defence and the families concerned. Coronial Independence Coroners are independent judicial officers. They are appointed and paid for by the relevant local authority and their officers and staff are employed by the local authority and/or the police.