Lawyers for the families of 29 military and civilian intelligence specialists who were killed when an RAF Chinook helicopter crashed on the Mull of Kintyre in 1994 have said they will “consider all legal options” to find out how their relatives died. They have launched a campaign seeking answers and accountability.
Around the time of the 30th anniversary of the disaster last June, the families discovered that Ministry of Defence records had unexpectedly been sealed for a further 70 years. They are calling for a judge-led public inquiry to assess the available evidence. Their solicitor Mark Stephens CBE, from the law firm Howard Kennedy, argued that there could no longer be any operational need for secrecy.
The military helicopter was carrying passengers from Northern Ireland to a conference in Scotland. One of those on board was Lt Col John Tobias MBE, 41, an army intelligence officer.
His son Andy was eight at the time. Andy Tobias (pictured) told me this week why he thought the prime minister’s commitment to a duty of candour for public bodies meant the families should finally discover whether their loved ones had boarded an aircraft that others knew was not fit to fly.
You can hear our discussion in the latest episode of A Lawyer Talks. My regular podcast is a bonus for paying subscribers to A Lawyer Writes. Everyone else can hear a short taster by clicking the ► symbol above.
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