Verdicts of unlawful killing have been recorded on five British victims of the Flight MH17 missile attack after a coroner ruled that the atrocity was carried out by pro-Russian separatists. An inquest held at Leicester’s City Hall began with individual tributes to Liam Sweeney, 28, Richard Mayne, 20, Glenn Thomas, 49, John Alder, 63, and 20-year-old Ben Pocock.
A total of 298 people died when MH17 was shot down in eastern Ukraine on July 17 2014 while en route from Amsterdam to Malaysia. Leicester Coroner Professor Catherine Mason was told four individuals linked to a Donetsk-based Russian separatist group have refused to attend a trial pending in The Hague, at which they are accused of responsibility for the attack.
Giving evidence to the coroner on Friday, Detective Chief Superintendent Dominic Murphy, the head of operations for counter-terrorism policing unit SO15, described how a Dutch Safety Board Inquiry found a Buk missile system had downed MH17. A total of 10 of those on board were British, including the five subject to an inquest after their bodies were repatriated.
Mr Murphy told the hearing, which was held without a jury: “MH17 departed Amsterdam and had been flying for around three hours when it lost contact with air traffic control.”
Summarising the Dutch Safety Board’s inquiry, the senior officer added: “At that time a missile launching system was fired from a field in Ukraine. “It actually detonated on the upper left side, in front of the cockpit of the aircraft.
“Fragments (of the missile) penetrated the left side of the cockpit… a pressure wave caused the fuselage to break up and caused the crash. That missile system appears to have been smuggled over the border into Ukraine from the Russian Federation on the 16th and 17th of July overnight.”
The inquest was told the four defendants being tried in their absence were linked to a pro-Russian armed group. MH17 was flying at around 33,000ft and was in a space which had not been subject to restrictions by any government agency.
Mr Sweeney, from Newcastle upon Tyne, and Mr Alder, from Gateshead, were travelling to watch Newcastle United play in New Zealand. The pair and Mr Mayne, from Leicester, Mr Thomas, from Blackpool, and Mr Pocock, from Bristol, all died from multiple injuries.
Recording verdicts of unlawful killing on all five men, Prof Mason said there had been no problems with the aircraft, which was flying in permitted air space. She told family members who attended the inquest: “What we do know is that a Buk missile system was brought into eastern Ukraine and that a surface-to-air missile was fired.
“I am satisfied that MH17 was shot down by a Buk missile fired by pro-Russian separatists.
“Taking all of the evidence into account, an appropriate conclusion in relation to the deaths of Liam Sweeney, Richard Mayne, Glenn Thomas, John Alder and Ben Pocock is that they were unlawfully killed. I am truly sorry that we meet today as a result of such a tragic and shocking incident. I am very sorry for your loss.”
