Tom Hurndall

THE trial of a soldier accused of killing Tufnell Park photographer Tom Hurndall in Israel has heard claims that British doctors were responsible for his death.
The 22-year-old was shot in the head by Israeli Defence Force soldier Sergeant Idier Wahid Taysir in April 2003.
In their summing up on the last day of the case on Sunday, the soldier’s defence team tried to shift the blame for Tom’s death onto doctors who treated him in Britain.
They say doctors at Hampstead’s Royal Free Hospital and Putney’s Hospital for Neuro-Disability were negligent, and gave the photographer an overdose of morphine. They also suggested Tom’s family could be blamed for his death by agreeing to have his life-support machine turned off.
Tom’s mother, Jocelyn, of Burghley Road, Tufnell Park, flew to Israel on Friday for the last day of the trial.
She told the New Journal she was stunned by the defence team’s case, but was hopeful the three judges would return a guilty verdict on June 26. She said: “They are clutching at straws. Tom could not have had more professional care at every level.
“Anyone who saw him, anyone who saw his brain scans, will know how seriously injured he was. It was amazing he lived as long as he did.”
And the Royal Free, where Tom was taken when he arrived back from Israel, denied it could be blamed for his death. A spokesman told the New Journal: “We totally refute any suggestion that the doctors who treated Tom were in any way negligent.
“We did everything we could for Tom once he was in our care but unfortunately his injuries were so severe that nothing could reverse the damage.”
Sgt Taysir has been standing trial at Kastina military court in the Israeli city of Negev.
Mrs Hurndall believes the soldier is being made a scapegoat for a trigger-happy culture among regulars in the Israeli army and that his commanding officers are also to blame. She said: “The commanding officer is at fault for not making the rules of engagement clear to the soldiers under his command.
Mrs Hurndall said Sgt Taysir, a Bedouin Arab, had faced racism within the Israeli army.
She added: “I have been hearing more about the policies of discrimination by the Israeli government and how they treat their soldiers.
“But he must be given a strong sentence and, whatever the orders are, he has to take responsibility for his actions.”