The inquests into the deaths of 52 people in the London suicide bombings of July 2005 will examine the roles and possible failures of the police and intelligence service MI5 before the attack, a coroner ruled on Friday. Lady Justice Hallett, said it was “not too remote” to investigate what was known in the “year or two” before the bombings took place. “The scope of the inquest ... will include the alleged intelligence failings and the immediate aftermath of the bombings,” she said, announcing that she will resume the inquests later in the year. “Plots of this kind are not developed overnight,” she added. MI5 has previously argued that investigating their role would jeopardise Britain's security by forcing the disclosure of top secret files. The Home Office said in a statement that it was considering the scope of the inquests and would assist the inquiry as fully as possible. A spokeswoman would not rule out MI5 agents appearing in court to give evidence. Suicide bombers Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, Shehzad Tanweer, 22, Hasib Hussain, 18 and Jermaine Lindsay, 19, detonated their bombs on three London Underground trains and a bus in the worst peacetime attack on the capital. Victims' families want the inquest to ask why MI5 did not follow up Khan and Tanweer after they were seen meeting known terror suspects 17 months before the attacks. Court hearings have revealed counter-terrorism officers watched, photographed and followed Khan in early 2004 during an inquiry into another group of militants planning a fertiliser bomb attack. But MI5 concluded that diverting resources to place him under detailed investigation or surveillance was not justified. It was disclosed only last month that West Yorkshire Police have only just discovered that they held Khan's fingerprints on file for 19 years before the attacks.
