Independent Inquest Advice for bereaved Service families will meet a real need
15 July 2010
A new service to help bereaved Armed Forces families through the inquest process was launched today (Thursday 15 July 2010) by The Royal British Legion.
Independent Inquest Advice provides free, independent and expert legal advice and assistance, from professionally-qualified lawyers, to support bereaved Service families through what can be a confusing and frustrating process at an already difficult and painful time.
Chris Simpkins, Director General of The Royal British Legion, said: "Independent Inquest Advice is a new departure for the Legion, and reflects the wider range of services we now offer to meet the growing needs of our Service personnel and their families. Bereaved families need to feel able to participate in the inquest procedures, to ask questions, and to receive as much information as possible. Our service will meet a very real need, helping bereaved Armed Forces families to understand, and feel better equipped to deal with, the whole investigation into their loved ones' deaths. The Legion will be with them every step of the way through this."
Robert Dicketts, whose son Corporal Oliver Dicketts was one of 14 Service men killed in the 2006 Nimrod explosion in Afghanistan, spoke at the launch and welcomed the new service: "I have had first-hand experience of how harrowing a military inquest can be. Nothing can prepare you for it, and it can be all the more frustrating if you aren't receiving support and advice along the way."
Diana Barnes, whose husband Corporal Jason Barnes died in Afghanistan in 2008 when the vehicle he was driving hit a roadside device, said: "Military inquests are so complex, you don't really know what to expect. There's a lot of waiting around and not knowing. With Jason's inquest I went into it blind and totally unadvised."
Independent Inquest Advice is the result
of consultations carried out as part of the Legion's "Honour the
Covenant" campaign begun in 2007. At meetings jointly hosted by the
War Widows Association with bereaved Service families, feedback
emphasised the lack of knowledge of the inquest procedure, and the
lack of availability of legal advice and other assistance at the
inquest and other inquiries.
Chris Simpkins thanked members of bereaved Service families who attended and said their "participation and feedback would continue to be essential for this service". He also thanked "colleagues at the MoD who have been very supportive" of the initiative and provided funding from the Challenge Fund as an initial grant to help set up the service.
The Legion's new service has been welcomed by Andrew Robathan, Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans. He said, "The Royal British Legion offers outstanding support to former Service personnel, their families and those who have been bereaved. I am sure the Independent Inquest Advice Service will become another valued and excellent service. It will complement the good work the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces already does on behalf of bereaved families. By working together, The Royal British Legion and the MoD can guide families who have lost loved ones through the sometimes complex and unfamiliar process of an inquest."
Click here for details on how to contact our Independent Inquest Advice service.
Media Contact:
Susan Cottam, Public Relations Officer, The Royal British
Legion
T: 020 3207 2477 M: 07775 017 889 E: scottam@britishlegion.org.uk
