I will set out below a summary of the relevant expertise of those who assisted me in relation to the emergency services response. It reflects the position when they gave evidence in 2021.
Fire and Rescue Expert
Matthew Hall
Matthew Hall served in the Royal Navy before joining the London Fire Brigade (LFB) in 1990. While holding the rank of Station Manager between 2002 and 2005, he became an instructor for the Institution of Fire Engineers1Â and qualified as a Tactical/Silver Commander.2
He was part of the Special Operations Group at LFB3Â before being seconded to the Department for Communities and Local Government in early 2006 to assess the operational service delivery of the UK Fire and Rescue Service. Later that year, he became Staff Officer to the LFB Deputy Commissioner.4Â In 2008, he was promoted to Group Manager and led on a number of special projects, such as strategic response arrangements and Strategic/Gold Commander training.5
From 2011 to 2014, he was the National Interagency Liaison Officer (NILO) Co‑ordinator.6 He delivered NILO training courses as an Associate of LFB Enterprises Limited between 2016 and 2019. In his last two years of service with LFB, he was part of the Technical and Service Support Unit, focusing on the development of technology for equipment and more efficient emergency responses.7
During his service, he conducted the review into the emergency response to the Marchioness disaster on behalf of LFB8 and was involved with the review following the 7/7 attack.9 Ahead of the 2012 Olympics, he was the UK Fire and Rescue Service representative in the multi‑agency joint operational group for Marauding Terrorist Firearms Attack response. He led on the development and delivery of the role of the Fire and Rescue Service within the National Olympic Co‑ordination Centre, contributing to Joint Operating Principles at the time.10
He retired as Deputy Assistant Commissioner in 2016. Since then, he has provided multi‑agency and interoperability training to a variety of bodies, including government departments and the armed forces.11
Ambulance Service Experts
Christian Cooper
Christian Cooper served as an ambulance officer and paramedic for the Great Western Ambulance Service between 2000 and 2007. He was Resilience Manager for the South West Strategic Health Authority until 2009. In 2009, he became the Hazardous Area Response Team and Specialist Operations Manager for the Great Western Ambulance Service.12
From 2013, he was the Head of Quality and Improvement for the National Ambulance Resilience Unit.13Â At the time of giving evidence to the Inquiry in September 2021, he was the National Head of Operations for the Unit. In this role he had responsibility for overseeing the development of the national and contractual standards that apply to ambulance trusts, to enable them to respond effectively to Major Incidents.14
Michael Herriot
Michael Herriot worked in nursing between 1976 and 198015Â before becoming a paramedic for the East Sussex Ambulance Service. By 1995, he was the Assistant Chief Ambulance Officer for the Scottish Ambulance Service.16
Between 1995 and 1997, he worked at the Home Office Emergency Planning College17Â as a course director.
Since April 1997, he has been the Associate Director for Special Operations and Emergency Planning at the Scottish Ambulance Service, where he is responsible for special operations and emergency planning.18
Policing Experts
Scott Wilson
Scott Wilson was a Detective Superintendent in Counter‑Terrorism Command for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) between 2008 and 2010.19 On promotion to Detective Chief Superintendent in 2010, he became the Head of Emergency Planning. This role included preparing for the London Olympics in 2012.20
He was the Head of the MPS Intelligence Bureau between 2013 and 2014.21 Between 2014 and 2018, he was the National Co‑ordinator for Protect and Prepare, having strategic oversight of the National Counter‑Terrorism Security Office and leading the policing response to high‑risk threats. During this time, he worked domestically and internationally, setting up an international team in 2015 following the terrorist attacks in Tunisia.22
In his role as National Co‑ordinator, he conducted a full review of police strategies and capabilities, including firearms capacity, command and control, and protective security.23 He developed the national police counter‑terrorism awareness campaigns from 2014 to 2018 and operated as the strategic lead for Operation Temperer.24 He was responsible for the management of counter‑ terrorism exercising25 and co‑authored the third edition of the Joint Operating Principles in January 2016.26
He was one of the Senior Investigating Officers for the Glasgow Airport attack in 2007 and the Senior Identification Manager for the London Bridge attack in 2017.27Â He retired from the MPS as a Detective Chief Superintendent in 2018.28
Iain Sirrell
Iain Sirrell began his career with the MPS in 1988, transferring to North Yorkshire Police in 1992 before retiring from the MPS as a Chief Inspector in 2018. He was the Police Training College Manager between 2006 and 2008.29
He was a control room Force Incident Manager from 2008 until 2010 and from 2013 to 2016. During this time, he also qualified as a Silver Commander and made major changes to the control room in relation to its counter‑ terrorism response.30
He was occupationally trained as a counter‑terrorism security co‑ordinator and had responsibility for command and control in a national counter‑terrorism programme for police and military exercises.31
Ian Dickinson
Ian Dickinson had a long career in policing, rising to the rank of Deputy Chief Constable in Lothian and Borders Police before retiring as Assistant Chief Constable.32
He has substantial experience in strategic command, having been the Deputy National Co‑ordinator for counter‑terrorism in Scotland. He was in post as a Strategic Commander at the time of the Glasgow Airport attack in 2007.33
He now works at the Emergency Planning College, along with Scott Wilson and Iain Sirrell. As part of the Cabinet Office Civil Contingencies Secretariat, the Emergency Planning College delivers training courses from an operational, tactical and strategic level to local authorities and emergency services in the UK and internationally.34
Supporting research analyst
John Lawrie
John Lawrie is a researcher and analyst who supported Matthew Hall in the preparation of his expert reports into the response of the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service to the Attack.35
He worked in law enforcement for 25 years and was engaged in specialist roles for the majority of that time. He held the positions of Staff Officer, Contingency Planner and Emergency Planning Officer. He has been a firearms instructor36Â and has delivered firearms command and control processes to police services since the 1990s.37
He has been a Tactical Advisor in two national forces as well as in the National Crime Agency, the Regional Crime Squad and the London Flying Squad.38 He was engaged in operations throughout one of the busiest periods of counter‑terrorist operations in the UK.39
For a number of years, he researched and authored cross‑government reports as an intelligence analyst in Whitehall. He has acted as a delegate to the United States, the Middle East and Europe. John Lawrie now operates as a consultant, specialising in threat, risk, and political and religious extremism. He is a keynote speaker on UK NILO courses and has given lectures to the European Commission.40
During his time as an intelligence analyst, he specialised in firearms, weapons‑ effects and ballistics, and terrorist tactics and training. In partnership with the Home Office, he worked with all three emergency services supporting investment in the preparation for terrorist attacks.