Police response to Tunisia terror attacks 'cowardly' coroner concludes

Police responding to a terror attack in Tunsia which claimed a victim from Nottinghamshire were "at best shambolic and at worst cowardly", a coroner has concluded.
John StolleryJohn Stollery
John Stollery

A total of 38 people were killed when an Islamist gunman opened fire at a hotel in Sousse on June 26 2015.

Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith said he would rule that all 30 Britons were "unlawfully killed".

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He added that he has not found a direct and causal link between the response of armed officers in the area and the deaths.

Families had asked the coroner consider whether neglect by holiday firm TUI or the hotel owners was a factor in their relatives' deaths.

But he told them he would rule this out because the law regarding neglect did not cover tourists on holiday and the gunman was intent on killing as many holidaymakers as he could.

John Stollery, from Walesby was killed while on holiday with his wife Cheryl and son.

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Also amongst the dead was Carly Lovett, 24, from Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. The fashion blogger, who was on holiday with her fiance Liam, reportedly survived the massacre on the beach only to die when a grenade was thrown into her hotel.

The gunman, Seifeddine Rezgui, was shot dead by police.