Quote:If there is any professional journalism left in the world today, it is an incidental fact within an overarching system, which organizes and codifies the lines of power that animate and feed a faked "truth" served once warmed over as reality. It is patently obvious to me now, if it wasn't back then, that in watching this news video, every single component---person, place or thing---is an awful contrivance, especially unsuitable for today's cave walls

Paul Rigby Wrote:http://stevenwarran.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html

Quote:If there is any professional journalism left in the world today, it is an incidental fact within an overarching system, which organizes and codifies the lines of power that animate and feed a faked "truth" served once warmed over as reality. It is patently obvious to me now, if it wasn't back then, that in watching this news video, every single component---person, place or thing---is an awful contrivance, especially unsuitable for today's cave walls

Peter Presland Wrote:I've only spent about 30 minutes there so far but that's enough to confirm that there's some pretty impressive information and analysis of 9/11 on that blog. So much so that it's another that I intend to hoover up in its entirety.

Quote:J7: 7/7 Inquests Blog

Thursday, October 28, 2010

The Strange Account of Ross Mallinson

http://77inquests.blogspot.com/2010/10/strange-account-of-ross-mallinson.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+J7Inquests+%28J7%3A+7%2F7+Inquests+-+News+%26+Analysis%29

In J7's submission to the 7/7 Inquests, amongst the many questions we posed in relation to the events at Aldgate, we asked:
What train was Mr Mallinson on? Was an announcement made at Aldgate that there had been a bomb on a train?

Source: J7: Inquest Submission 03, Immediate Circumstances Aldgate
In the morning session of 25 October Mr Keith questioned a Miss Melanie Jane O'Dell:

"MISS MELANIE JANE O'DELL (sworn)
Questions by MR KEITH
MR KEITH: Good morning.
A. Good morning.
Q. Could you give the court your full name, please?
A. Melanie Jane O'Dell.
Q. May I ask, is it Miss O'Dell or Mrs O'Dell?
A. Miss."
...

"Q. Did you take Mr Henning with you, in fact, towards the rear of the train as well?
A. Yes, he wanted me to hold his hand and he wanted me to stay -- he asked me to stay with him.
Q. And so obviously, because he was injured, you did so?
A. Mm, I was concerned there was another passenger called -- whose name was Ross, and I was worried about him, because he wasn't particularly coherent and he was quite quiet, and he was -- he had quite a bad -- what looked to me like a bad head cut.
Q. Presumably, he left the carriage along with the rest of you, did he, or did he stay --
A. Somebody else helped him.
Q. Could you see him being brought out?
A. I didn't see him because he was behind us, but then I saw him -- when I got to Aldgate eventually, I went over to Aldgate bus station and got on a double decker bus, I saw him being helped onto -- into an ambulance.
Q. So you knew he had been removed from the train?
A. Yes."

According to O'Dell's account, Ross Malinson was aboard train 204 along with Michael Henning.

However, Mr Mallinson was one of the people on the list of survivors designated as Properly Interested Persons (PIPs) in the initial hearings to the Inquests, and also one that had received legal aid to be represented. Justice Hallett was later to make her ruling that PIP status for survivors was to be withdrawn and they were not to be represented at the Inquests proper, although they could be called as witnesses during proceedings.

Mr Mallinson is described in the footnotes to those initial hearing transcripts as follows:

80 The following applicants were not in the same carriage as the explosions: Michael Henning, Elizabeth Kenworthy, John Blundell, Joanne Cole, Jacqueline Putnam, Ellaine Young, Angela Ioannou, Susan Maxwell, Lesley Ratcliff, George Roskilly. Further Tim Coulson and Ross Mallinson were not travelling on the same train as the explosion, although Mr. Coulson entered the affected carriage and provided first aid.

Source: Submissions of Counsel to the Inquests, 26/04/10, p61
O'Dell places Mallinson on Ciricle Line train 204, yet the Inquests' own documentation states quite clearly that Mr Mallinson wasn't on that train at all.

J7 would suggest that the reference to 'her' in the following Inquests transcript is an error as Mr O'Connor was not representing a female client travelling in another train. The only PIP who suffered the injuries described was Ross Mallinson and Mr O'Connor was his legal counsel:

[Mr O'Connor] carriage, and thus drawing a boundary about whether you're in the same carriage or not would be arbitrary and irrational, and indeed, even not in the same train, one of our clients, madam, you will have seen suffered a very serious fractured skull requiring two operations and was actually in a train passing opposite the explosion. Such is the random impact, that it went through windows and injured her desperately seriously.

Source: Hearing transcripts, Afternoon, 27 April 2010, p103 line 21 on
As can be seen in the Trackernet image in a previous article about the events at Aldgate, there appears to be no train 'passing opposite the explosion' on Circle Line train 204.

In an interview with The Age published in July 2005, it was claimed that Mr Mallinson was travelling on a train in front of Circle Line train 204, travelling between Aldgate station and Tower Hill:

Mr Mallinson was on his way to work as a computer programmer for an insurance company at Tower Hill when Shehzad Tanweer, 22, detonated the bomb on a train between Liverpool and Aldgate stations on the Circle Line. Minutes later, Mr Mallinson's train, also on the Circle Line, began moving again, slowly passing Aldgate station, where an announcer warned passengers that there had been a bomb on a train, probably the one directly behind Mr Mallinson's. His train continued to Tower Hill station, where two police officers carried him to the surface. He gave his mobile phone to a woman next to him and asked her to call his wife, Judy.

This would have huge implications if indeed this account is true. Firstly, the announcement at Aldgate of a 'bomb' whilst all the accounts heard at the Inquests this week have referred only to an 'electrical explosion' or 'power surge' in the first moments after this event and secondly, that the power was indeed on or had been reset after the explosion on train 204. The tracks would have to have been live after the explosion.

Not a word has been heard at the 7/7 Inquests of any other train 'moving' at Aldgate or in the vicinity of Circle Line train 204, apart from a Metropolitan Line train 447 which was going in the opposite direction and had only just begun to leave the station from platform 2 before it stopped suddenly. There has certainly been no mention of the explosion impacting 'through the window of a passing train' onto Mr Mallinson as referenced by his legal counsel, Mr O'Connor.

The driver of Metropolitan Line train 447 was not called to court to give evidence, instead the first of two statements that he made was read by Hugo Keith QC:

[Statement of MR MARK WILLIAMS] read "I then got on to train 447, which again is a Metropolitan Line train which was running on time. As I pulled away, I heard an extremely loud bang. At this point, I was about half a car length out of the station. I immediately stopped and, at the same time, the Underground electrical traction current turned off and the lights in the tunnel turned on. I did not open my doors as I was unsure of exactly what had happened. I then heard shouting from the station staff on the platform and the doors were being opened by two other train operators, Eldridge and Paul Haskins who were manually opening the doors. I could see this train was facing me in the tunnel, as it had just turned the corner. This was a C stock style train. I then went back through one car and got out of the train and joined the two other train operators, Eldridge and Paul Haskins.

Source: Hearing Transcripts, 26 October 2010, morning, p 26, lines 18 on
Metropolitan Line train 447 appears to have been evacuated within 3 to 4 minutes and well before the evacuation of Circle Line train 204.

At yesterday's hearing, Mr Mallinson was mentioned, not by a witness present to give evidence and answer questions but in a statement read to the court by Hugo Keith QC, from 'rookie' BTP officer, Robert Whyte:

[Statement of Mr Robert Whyte, dated 8/07/05, read] "Myself and PC Hatcher, along with the cycle officer, attempted to break open the door of the next carriage along from the badly damaged carriage. We were not successful in doing this. We then attempted to locate some sort of metal object that could help us in our effort to open the train doors. We could not find anything that could help us. "I then helped a male, who had a very severe head injury, who was holding a piece of bloodstained cloth tightly on the side of his head. The male, who I now know to be Ross Charles Mallison. He was shaking and kept telling me he was very faint. I took the male's small suitcase in one hand and told the male to put his arm around my shoulder for support. I told the male it would be a short walk to the platform where we could get him some medical attention. I kept trying to reassure the male along the entire walk of the track. I walked the male to the exit of the station where I was joined by a firefighter. This firefighter took the male by the other arm for more support. I was informed by this firefighter that they were using double decker buses across the road as the places to sit down injured people. Myself and the firefighter walked the male over to the buses. We sat him down on the first bus. The firefighter then asked if I was okay. I said I was. The fireman then left. I asked the male to sit back down and try to relax and try to take deep breaths. A male sitting behind me then handed me a piece of clean cloth. I replaced the man's cloth he had on his head with this piece of fresh cloth. A paramedic then came over and spoke to the male. He asked how he was feeling. I then asked the male if he was okay and he said 'yes' so I left the male in the hands of the paramedic on the bus.

"At this point, I decided to head back down into the station and try to help anybody else that needed help. Once again, I went into the station, headed downstairs to the left and on to the track. I came across a male and female that needed some help. I believe that they were boyfriend and girlfriend.

Source: Hearing Transcripts 27 October 2010 afternoon, p21 lines 21 on
How curious that Mr Whyte was able to include the full name of Ross Mallinson apparently on 08/07/05 whereas he doesn't name the 'male and female' to whom he also gave assistance.

Neither is there any mention of the place from which Mr Mallinson was rescued and aided. Nor any mention of him being rescued from a different train to Circle Line train 204. In fact, O'Dell's account places him on the very train that the Inquests' documentation claims he wasn't. It may be worth noting at this stage that Miss O'Dell gave a statement in July 2005 and was asked by Lady Justice Hallett to prepare another statement, over five years later, in August 2010.

The fact remains that the evidence adduced to the Inquest from Mr Whyte & Ms O'Dell differs greatly from the original account of Mr Mallinson's that he gave to The Age in July 2005 and that Mr O'Connor QC submitted to the Inquest.

Mr O'Connor QC had no option to question or challenge these statements on Mr Mallinson's behalf, since survivors such as Mr Mallinson are no longer legally represented at the Inquests.

Quote:Irish citizen feared to be among London blast dead

Jerome Reilly

Sunday July 10 2005

A NEW ZEALAND woman in her 20s who holds an Irish passport is feared to have been among those killed in Thursday's terror bomb blasts in London.

A huge forensic investigation was stepped up at the four bomb sites yesterday to recover the bodies of thevictims and identify thoseresponsible.

It has emerged that not one of the victims has yet been positively identified. Authorities say that is because the remains were so badly damaged and difficult to retrieve.

Police have confirmed that 49 people died in the blasts, 700 were injured and 25 are still missing, feared dead.

The relatives of the missing continued yesterday to hand out posters and pictures of their loved ones in a desperate attempt to find information of their whereabouts.

"It is a very harrowing task," police Detective Superintendent Jim Dickie toldreporters.

"Most of the victims have suffered intensive trauma, and by that I mean there are body parts as well as torsos."

The missing woman, who has dual Irish and New Zealand citizenship has not been accounted for since the terrorist attack. It is understood she was travelling on the Piccadilly line on Thursday morning when the bombs went off but did not arrive at herdestination.

Her desperately worried parents were travelling to the UK last night from Auckland to join in the search for their daughter and will arrive at lunchtime today.

Minister for foreign affairs Dermot Ahern said he had "serious concerns" for the young woman who has been living in the UK for some time. It is thought one or more of her grandparents was Irish.

The Irish Embassy is also aware of an Irishman who is in hospital as a result of the explosions. The injured man has been joined by his family, who are requesting his identity not be revealed.

Meanwhile the family of Ciaran Cassidy are convinced he was on board the tube that exploded near King's Cross but are refusing to giveup hope.

His parents, Sean and and Veronica Cassidy from north London have heard no word from shop worker Ciaran, 22, after his employer called to say he had not reached work.

Injured architect Willie John Walsh, 24, from Moycullen in Co Galway remains in hospital but is expected to recover from serious head and arm injuries sustained in the Liverpool Street bomb blast.

He was in the carriage where the explosion killed seven people. His mother, Barbara said her son does not remember much but that somebody broke the windows and he and a girl got out.

The families of at least two other Irish people posted messages on a ticker-tape on Sky News yesterday, appealing for them to make contact.

In an uncanny coincidence, an Irish actor, whose wife miraculously survived the King's Cross bombing is starring in a play which centres on a suicide bomber who blows upa bus and was to have premiered on the night of theattacks.

David Ganly, originally from Dublin was caught up in the attacks when his wife, Londoner Liza Pulman, captured scenes from inside the train on her camera phone which were later shown on TV.

David was in rehearsals yesterday ahead of the rescheduled opening of The Arab-Israeli Cook Book, which was supposed to have begun on Thursday.

The huge forensic investigation was stepped up at the four bomb sites yesterday.

A specialist team of senior police officers, coroners and medical experts will oversee the identification of victims.

Most of the serious injuries suffered by the bomb victims were caused by the shock waves from the blast - particularly traumatic for air-filled parts of the body.

Shock waves can cause perforated eardrums, collapsed lungs and perforated bowels. But the force of a high explosive bomb causes devastation of soft tissues and was responsible for many of the limbs lost. Smoke inhalation causing lung damage, burns and ripped skin, caused by debris such as shards of glass and metal, were also commoninjuries.

The Identification Commission, which comes together to deal with mass casualties resulting from major disasters, has been convened to handle the aftermath ofthe attacks.

They will meet every day to direct the process of formally identifying the dead.

They will be supported by a team of hundreds of police staff and medical experts, many of whom have experience of major terrorist attacks or natural disasters, including the devastating Asian tsunami which occurred on St Stephen's Day.

Det Supt Dickie said forensics experts would use fingerprints, dental records and DNA analysis to help put names to the bodies.

"The environmental conditions are extremely uncomfortable. It's very confined and workers trying to retrieve the bodies are enduring intense heat," he added.

Asked whether international assistance from other police agencies or forensics experts was being sought, he answered flatly: "We don't need help. We have sufficient expertise in the UK."

The police, with the consent of the victims' families, intend to collect hair samples from their homes as partof the ongoing effort toidentify the remains, Det Supt Dickie said.

Saturday, July 09, 2005 :

Bomb survivor’s tale has surreal twist of fate

Neans McSweeney, South East Correspondent

AN IRISH actor whose wife survived the King’s Cross train bombing last night starred in the premiere of a play which centres on a suicide bomber who blows up a bus.Londoner Liza Pulman captured scenes from inside the train on her camera phone and her husband, David Ganly, who is originally from Dublin, downloaded the images and emailed them to ITV and Channel 4.

David was in rehearsals yesterday ahead of the rescheduled opening of The Arab-Israeli Cook Book, which was supposed to have begun on Thursday.

It was a surreal day for the couple but the reality of what had happened and how lucky Liza was to survive only began to sink in for her yesterday as she watched television reports.

She said: “I watched back the footage and they described me as a bomb survivor. It was only really then that the penny dropped. An uncanny calm came over me. We didn’t really know what had happened. I took about 30 seconds of footage on my phone and when I came home, David downloaded it for me and sent it off to the TV channels via email.

“Even watching the footage was uncanny. I can’t quite believe that I was there. That I survived it. It was very difficult to breathe and our eyes were stinging. Thankfully, I didn’t have to walk past the carriage that was blown apart. While there was a certain element of chaos, everyone was calm and very well behaved. Things like this are a great leveller... It really was a life-changing experience.”

David Ganly’s father, Patrick, said the content of his son’s play was a strange twist of fate. “The story behind the show has an uncanny resemblance with what happened. It focuses on a suicide bomber who goes in a bus,” said Mr Ganly, who lives in Stonyford, Co Kilkenny.

“When I heard of the bomb on the radio, I switched on the television. I saw the footage taken with a camera phone and thought to myself how cool and calm the person filming it was. It wasn’t until I spoke to David that I realised it was Liza’s footage. Lisa is also an actor but was beginning a part-time job. I knew she’d be on the train at that time. She had been in touch with him so we knew she was fine. But she was stranded in London in her dusty clothes for hours because the transport system just ground to a halt.”