A FINAL preparatory hearing has taken place before the inquest into the murder of James Furlong, Dr David Wails, and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett in Forbury Gardens in 2020 begins.
Preliminary hearings began in January, where Judge Coroner Martyn Zeidman KC agreed to give the issue consideration and a full inquest is set to begin early next year.
A review held at the Royal Courts of Justice on Monday, September 18, saw Judge Coroner Sir Adrian Fulford heard details about who would be giving evidence at the final hearing, as well as whether a relevant witness from within MI5 would remain anonymous during the inquest.
No ruling has yet been made on these matters.
It follows a number of pre-inquest hearings which revealed that the deportation of Khairi Saadallah was dropped shortly before the incident in 2020.
Representatives of the victims’ families also moved to invoke Article 2, which means that coroner must carry out an enhanced investigation considering the wider circumstances surrounding the incident, rather simply determining how a person died.
This is due to reports following the incident that Saadallah was known to both police and MI5 before it took place.
On behalf of the families of James Furlong, Dr David Wails, and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett, Gary Furlong, father of James, said:
“It is now more than three years since we lost James, David and Joseph in the murderous attack in Forbury Gardens.
“Their families feel the pain of their loss just as much today as we did then and we all miss them every day.
“We all think of how they would be living their lives now, if theirs hadn’t been cut short so violently and cruelly.
“It is a relief that the long and necessary preparations for the inquest process are almost complete and that the organisations who will have to give an account of their involvement with Khairi Saadallah have been identified.”
The statement continues: “We trust that over the six weeks when the inquest takes place early next year, those people who take the witness stand give a full, fearless and honest account of their organisations’ contact with Saadallah and of any shortcomings in their responsibilities towards him and the wider public.”
The families are represented by solicitors at law firm Leigh Day.
Leigh Day partner Benjamin Burrows said: “The families of James Furlong, Dr David Wails, and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett showed great courage and patience as they waited for the criminal trial and appeal hearing of Khairi Saadallah to be completed.
“The preparations for the inquest into the deaths of their loved family members have also necessarily taken time– the examination of events that resulted in the attack in Forbury Gardens in June 2020 will be detailed and involve evidence from many Interested Parties.
“The Leigh Day legal team would like to pay tribute to the fortitude that our clients have already shown and will need to continue to draw on over the six weeks of hearings scheduled to take place in 2024.”
The final hearing of the inquest is set to begin in January next year and will take place for six weeks.
