Simon Hughes supports Duggan family in their fight for inquest into son's death

12.00.00pm GMT Mon 10th Nov 2008

Last week Simon Hughes came out in support of the Duggan family seeking justice for their son, Jeremiah, who died in mysterious circumstances in Germany in March 2003.

After fresh evidence came to light, the Duggan family called for a new inquest into the incident. The appeal was rejected by the Attorney General, Lady Scotland, but the high court has announced last week that it will allow the Duggan family to challenge this decision.

The case could once again bring the UK's whole legal decision-making process into question. This follows on from the inquest into Lord Goldsmith's advice to end the investigation into BAE fraud, after pressure from Saudi officials. The Duggan case will again challenge the Attorney General's power to make important decisions with immunity from judicial and democratic scrutiny.

Expressing his concern with the way the UK government has dealt with this case, Simon said "There was clearly an inadequate German investigation into this case. It was handled poorly at the scene of the death, poorly by the German police, and poorly by the inquest in the UK."

He added that he was "troubled that the UK government hasn't been more proactive in trying to persuade German authorities to do the investigation properly".

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Guardian article on this story