All 30 British victims of the Tunisian terror attack, including a couple from Morden, were unlawfully killed, a coroner has ruled. 

Police and travel agencies were also criticised for not doing enough in the lead up and aftermath to the terror attacks on the final day of the inquest at the Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday, February 28.

Summing up, Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith acknowledged that Andrew Ritchie QC, representing the families of 22 of the victims, had argued that it should be ruled the deaths were caused by neglect of travel companies and Tunisian security forces, but said the law did not permit him to do so.

However, he condemned the 'shambolic' and 'cowardly' response of the Tunisian police, the lack of CCTV and guards at the hotel and the lack of information given to tourists by travel agencies about the level of the terror threat.

After the verdict was delivered, the families of the victims announced they would begin civil proceedings against travel company TUI.

Read more: Family of Tunisia attack victims ‘hope to find answers’ ahead of inquest

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Morden couple John, 74, and Janet Stocker, 63, of Stonecot Hill, were among the first to be killed by gunman Seifeddine Rezgui while they sunbathed outside the Rui Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Sousse on June 26, 2015.

Judge Loraine-Smith ruled both their deaths were caused by gunshot wounds to the pelvis after being shot by the gunman.

Rezgui killed a total of 38 tourists, including 30 Britons, before he was finally gunned down by Tunisian security forces.

Judge Loraine-Smith said: "The response by police was at best shambolic and at worst cowardly. It was completely ineffective until the death of the gunman at the hands of the national guard."

He added: "The response of staff was on the whole disorganised and chaotic, but some displayed conspicuous personal courage in trying to protect their guests.

"Conspicuous personal courage was also displayed by a number of guests."

The court heard that two marine guards had arrived at the hotel while Rezgui was shooting, with just one gun between them.

Despite firing two rounds of ammunition at Rezgui, the armed guard did not succeed in hitting him.

Rezgui threw a grenade in his direction. Although the grenade did not explode, it caused the marine guard to faint with fear, dropping his weapon. When he regained consciousness, he ran and hid on the beach. His colleague also fled, removing his shirt so he could not be identified as a marine guard.

With the exception of these two guards, no police or security officers entered the grounds before the gunman had killed all 38 tourists

The Tunisian police, who Judge Loraine-Smith said could have arrived at the hotel within minutes of the alarm being raised, did not arrive for half an hour after deciding to detour via the police station to collect more weapons.

The time that passed between the killing of the first and last victim was approximately 15 minutes.

Judge Loraine-Smith also noted the Rui Imperial Marhaba Hotel had just six CCTV cameras and no central hub, only two of the cameras were working on the day and considerably less than surrounding hotels. 

Just three security guards were on duty there at the time of the attack. All three either fled or hid, with one raising the alarm with the police.

Judge Loraine-Smith also said Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice warning of the possibility of another terror attack in Tunisia, following the Bardo museum attack in March 2015, could have been better communicated by travel agencies.

However, he added that he could not comment on whether victims would have chosen to travel had they been more aware of the risks, or whether anything the hotel could have done before the attack "would have done more than possibly make a difference".

He was also satisfied that Rezgui was a lone gun man, who had been radicalised in the 18 months before the attack.

He was connected to a terrorist cell in Sousse that had scoped out the hotel before picking it as a target, and armed him with a Kalashnikov, five packets of ammunition containing 30 bullets, three hand grenades and fireworks to cause confusion.

Rezgui, who had taken a drug to improve his physical performance on the morning of June 26, was instructed to continue the attack until he was killed.

Addressing the families of the victims, Judge Loraine-Smith said: "It's difficult to imagine what each of you went through on June 26, 2015, and in the days and months that followed.

"Throughout these proceedings you have shown a quiet dignity of which your loved ones would have been extremely proud."

Kylie Hutchison, lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, spoke on behalf of 22 of the families who lost family members in the Sousse attack.

She said: "TUI the tour operator who organised the holidays for the victims has stated that it was unaware of the letter from the Minister of Tourism.

"Even more surprisingly, given the events in Bardo and elsewhere in Tunisia, TUI failed to audit the adequacy of security precautions at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel.

"It is now crucial that the whole travel industry learns from what happened in Sousse to reduce the risk of similar catastrophic incidents in future.

"Our clients are very grateful to the coroner for his careful and sensitive handling of the inquest proceedings.

"They feel he has been fair and thorough in his investigation and appreciate how he has tried to ensure throughout that the families come first.

"On behalf of our clients who lost members of their families and those who suffered injuries in this terrible incident, we will now be preparing to commence civil proceedings against TUI.

"Further submissions will now also be made to the Coroner aimed at preventing future deaths.

"These inquests were about those who tragically lost their lives. They must never be forgotten, and the families hope that no one else will ever have to suffer the same fate in future."