Westminster attack inquests - latest updates: Coroner gives conclusions on how victims of terror attacker Khalid Masood died
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The inquests into the deaths of the victims of the Westminster attack are due to conclude.
Chief coroner Mark Lucraft QC is due to give his conclusions at the Old Bailey on the deaths of four civilians and police officer Keith Palmer, who were murdered by terrorist Khalid Masood.
He will consider whether factors including security at the Houses of Parliament, the lack of barriers on Westminster Bridge, police body armour and security service investigations into Masood played a role in their deaths.
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On Tuesday the court heard closing submissions, with Jonathan Hough QC, for the coroner, saying the inquests should conclude all five victims were unlawfully killed.
He said: “Each was murdered in a terrorist atrocity which was no less brutal for its lack of sophistication.”
Masood, 52, drove into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge on March 22 last year, killing American tourist Kurt Cochran, 54, retired window cleaner Leslie Rhodes, 75, Aysha Frade, 44, and Romanian tourist Andreea Cristea, 31.
He then stormed through gates near the Houses of Parliament and fatally stabbed Pc Palmer with two knives.
In his closing argument, Gareth Patterson QC, for families of victims on the bridge, urged the coroner to make a report on the circumstances of the case to “protect the public”.
On the role of MI5, whose knowledge of Masood has been heavily scrutinised, he said: “We do think there is room for improvement in terms of decision-making.”
He suggested security services should look again at when to investigate suspects and when to stop, and to take account of violent backgrounds.
Mr Patterson also called for the Government to “try again” with tightening rules for hiring cars.
Dominic Adamson, representing PC Palmer's widow Michelle, said that there was “a systematic failure” in protecting unarmed officers on guard at the Palace of Westminster.
He told the coroner: “In my submission it is very clear that you can be satisfied that as a result of those failures the consequences for Pc Palmer were that there was a substantial loss of the opportunities for him to be saved.”
No firearms officer had been near Carriage Gates, where Pc Palmer was on duty, for nearly an hour before Masood's attack.
Susannah Stevens, representing the officer's family, said: “If there had been authorised firearms officers present at that time, in our submission, on the balance of probabilities they would have been able to prevent a loss of an opportunity of saving Pc Palmer's life.
”Or to put it another way, on the balance of probabilities, their absence contributed to Pc Palmer's death.“
The court will hear further closing submissions in the morning, before the coroner begins giving his conclusions.
Judge Lucraft is now giving his findings on the death of PC Keith Palmer.
He says Masood's car had swerved around hostile vehicle mitigation barriers at the base of Elizabeth Tower and then crashed into railings outside the Houses of Parliament.
He remained in the car for several seconds before getting out and running towards Carriage Gates armed with knives.
He says PC Palmer moved towards Masood and was immediately attacked, until another officer briefly distracted Masood. PC Palmer was able to get up and run away.
He had been stabbed using two knives, with Masood using both hands in a "ferocious" attack.
Judge Lucraft says a member of the public who challenged Masood was told to "f*** off" and he appeared to ignore a woman with a child who begged him not to kill her
A witness described Masood "moving quickly but not sprinting" and waving a knife as people tried to run away. She saw at least two people injured by his crashed car.
She described PC Palmer being chased by Masood and stabbed on the ground multiple times. She saw a plain clothed protection officers run in from a restricted area and open fire with a handgun.
James West, who was attending an event in nearby Portcullis House, saw the attack from a window.
He said people initially went towards the car after the crash, possibly to help the driver in the belief it was an accident, but quickly turned and started running
There was a large crowd of people on the corner of Parliament Square, waiting to cross the road and taking photos of Big Ben, who ran.
Mr West saw PC Palmer fall and being attacked by Masood. He said the officer appeared to "try to curl himself up small". He desribed it like something you see in a horror film.
He described the stabbing as "repeated and constant", rather than frenzied.
He was "amazed" that PC Palmer briefly got up afterwards and ran, but moved away from the window after a colleague raised fears there could be a bomb in the car
PC Palmer was equipped with handcuffs, an extendable baton, incapacitant CS spray, a radio, and body armour.
The vehicle gates were kept open from 7am until 10pm at that time, and a PC said they were heavy and difficult to open and close.
An officer on the south gate said he was not aware where the two armed officers patrolling New Palace Yard were at 2.30pm on the day.
The officer, who was formerly an armed officer, said there was no known practice to be at the vehicle gates when they were open.
He heard the crash and then screaming, as people started running.
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