THE death of a Tadley man who died during a terror attack in Tunisia in 2015 has been ruled as unlawful killing.

David Thompson, of The Green, Tadley, was among 38 people killed by extremist Seifeddine Rezgui, when he opened fire at the five-star Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel.

As previously reported in The Gazette the 80-year-old, on holiday with his long-term partner Anne Kear, died from a gunshot wound to the chest.

A packed courtroom of London’s Royal Courts of Justice heard coroner Nicholas Loraine-Smith reject calls from lawyers for some of the dead people’s relatives to rule “neglect” by travel firm TUI or the hotel owners.

He said the law on neglect did not, in his view, apply to tourists who voluntarily went abroad and better planning and actions by hotel staff may not have prevented the atrocity.

The coroner said although in general the response of the hotel staff was “disorganised and chaotic” some of them displayed “conspicuous personal courage” in their efforts to protect the guests.

Mr Thompson was well loved in Tadley, having worked at the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Aldermaston, as well as being a keen dancer and runner. Hundreds attended his funeral.

Summing up the evidence, Mr Loraine-Smith referred to the response of police and military, including the officer who “fainted through terror and panic”, and the guard who took off his shirt to hide the fact he was an officer.

He said with the exception of two marine guards, no police entered the hotel grounds until the gunman had killed all 38 tourists.

He also referred to a unit that stopped off to pick up more weapons instead of going straight to the scene.

“They had everything they required to confront the gunman and could have been at the scene within minutes,” he said. “The delay was deliberate and unjustifiable."