LONDON, UK – This Thursday, August 26, the family of Geoffrey Thomas Campbell, a British national who died in the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001, will submit an application under the UK Coroners Act 1988 requesting a new inquest into his death.
The Campbell family — which includes Mr. Campbell’s parents, two brothers, and former fiancée — seeks the new inquest amid significant evidence that was not heard by the coroner at Mr. Campbell’s first inquest in 2013.
The family contends that the unheard evidence contradicts key details in the coroner’s findings — specifically, that the impact of the aircraft into World Trade Center 1 was the cause of the building’s subsequent total destruction (in which Mr. Campbell perished). They allege that the unheard evidence overwhelmingly supports the conclusion that the destruction of WTC 1 — as well as the destruction of WTC 2 and WTC 7 — was caused by the use of explosives and incendiaries.
The Campbell family will take the first step toward obtaining a fresh inquest by submitting a nearly 3,000-page application and bundle of evidence to the attorney general for England and Wales, seeking his authority to apply to the High Court for an order granting a fresh inquest.
For a new inquest to be ordered, the family merely needs to demonstrate that evidence not considered at the first inquest may lead to a different verdict. The family does not have the burden of proving to the attorney general or the High Court that a different verdict is likely.
The Campbell family will also submit the application to the senior coroner at the West London Coroner’s Court, inviting him to consent to a fresh inquest. If he consents, the High Court can order a fresh inquest without the need for the attorney general’s authority or a court hearing.
Should a new inquest be held, the Campbell family will pursue the verdict that their son was killed in the explosive demolition of WTC 1. This verdict would not have direct legal consequences, but the family hopes that it would show the need for further public inquiries and criminal investigations that would help establish the full truth surrounding the attacks of September 11, 2001.
The Campbell family is represented by Nick Stanage, a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London. Mr. Stanage specializes in actions and complaints against the police and in inquests, public inquiries, human rights, and judicial review. He sits as an Assistant Coroner and as a Legally Qualified Chair of Police Misconduct Hearings.
Background
Geoffrey Thomas Campbell was attending a Risk Waters conference on the 106th floor of WTC 1 (also known at the North Tower) when the building was struck by an aircraft at 8:46 AM on September 11, 2001. He died in the destruction of WTC 1 at 10:28 AM. His fragmented remains were identified by DNA analysis in 2002, 2004, 2008, and 2013.
An inquest into Mr. Campbell’s death was held at West London Coroner’s Court before Her Majesty’s Coroner Alison Mary Thompson on January 29, 2013. In the same hearing the coroner also heard and concluded inquests into the deaths of nine other British victims who perished in the destruction of the Twin Towers and whose remains had been repatriated to the UK.
The coroner’s findings regarding the time, place, and circumstances in which Mr. Campbell sustained his injuries were as follows (underlining added):
At 8.46 am on 11 September 2001 the deceased was on the 106th floor of the North Tower of World Trade Centre when an aircraft (AA11) was deliberately flown into the building, causing its collapse at 10.28am. This event was part of a coordinated attack by the Islamist militant group Al-Qaeda.
On the basis of substantial evidence not considered at the first inquest, the Campbell family disputes the coroner’s finding that the impact of the aircraft into WTC 1 caused the building’s subsequent total destruction.
The Campbell family maintains that the substantial evidence not considered at the first inquest overwhelmingly supports the conclusion that the destruction of WTC 1 — as well as the destruction of WTC 2 and WTC 7 — was caused by the use of explosives and incendiaries. This evidence is organized into the following five categories in the family’s application:
- Extreme temperatures and thermitic reactions
- WTC 1’s downward motion
- WTC 1’s and 2’s explosive behavior
- Eyewitness and seismic evidence of explosions
- Demonstrable inadequacy of the NIST investigation
The Campbell family’s application to the attorney general will include witness statements from six scientific experts and from five eyewitnesses to the World Trade Center’s destruction, four of whom were first responders that day. It will also include several dozen peer-reviewed papers and documents containing original data.
Based on the strength of the evidence, the Campbell family fully expects that the attorney general will grant his authority to apply to the High Court and that the High Court will order a fresh inquest — or, alternatively, that the senior coroner at the West London Coroner’s Court will consent to a fresh inquest.
Contact:
Matt Campbell (brother of Geoffrey Thomas Campbell, deceased)
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