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September 28, 2006updated 22 Nov 2022 9:09pm

After three years, inquest to be held into death of ITN’s Lloyd

By Press Gazette

After years of campaigning by the NUJ, an inquiry into the death of ITN correspondent Terry Lloyd is set to begin on Tuesday, 3 October.

The inquiry comes more than three years after Lloyd was shot dead in Iraq in the early days of the current conflict and follows numerous demands from the NUJ for the Ministry of Defence to launch a thorough investigation.

An ITN spokeswoman told Press Gazette: "ITN welcomes the inquest and hopes it will help shed some light on what exactly happened the day Terry Lloyd died."

At the time of his death, Lloyd was ITN's longest-serving reporter and he was also the first to be killed on assignment in the news organisation's history.

Lloyd was reporting independently from the military when he was allegedly caught in crossfire outside Basra.

According to an ITN investigation, he was wounded in the exchange, but then killed after the ambulance taking him to hospital came under fire from a US helicopter gunship.

ITN's Fred Nerac and Hussein Osman were also killed.

The inquiry is expected to consist of six days of testimony, with the conclusion and summary taking place on Tuesday, 10 October.

Fourteen journalists involved in covering the story and executives engaged in editorial decisions on the day are expected to appear, including ITV News editor-in-chief David Mannion, a close friend of Lloyd.

Lloyd's daughter, Chelsey, will be attending the first day of the inquest, but the family have asked for the media to respect their privacy until the end of the hearing, when they will make a further statement.

The family issued a statement saying: "Although we welcome the inquest into the circumstances surrounding the death of Terry we hope the media will understand that this will be a very difficult time for us."

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