The High Court has refused Sussex Police access to statements made by pilot Andy Hill to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch about last summer’s Shoreham Airshow crash.
Sussex Police was granted the right to see film footage from the aeroplane’s cameras, but its other requests were turned down.
It was also told it could not see material which has been produced by various other people subsequently, such as experiments conducted and tests done on various aspects of the accident.
A spokesperson for the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said: “The AAIB is not able to release protected air accident investigation records of its own accord. Only the High Court can allow for their release. We note today’s judgement and will now release the film footage to the Chief Constable of Sussex Police.”
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Rymarz of Sussex Police said: “We understand that legally this case is without precedent in England and Wales and we accept the reasons why our request has not been granted in full.
“As we have said before, this is an extraordinarily complex investigation, but we remain committed to finding answers for the families and friends of those who died.”
The application was made by the Chief Constable of Sussex Police to the Secretary of State for Transport, who oversees the AAIB.
The Secretary of State did not resist the application, since he considers it to be a matter for the court to decide whether disclosure should be made in cases such as these.
The Hunter Hawker jet crash, which happened on August 22, killed 11 men, most from Brighton and Hove and surrounding areas. They were Maurice Abrahams, Dylan Archer, Tony Brightwell, Matthew Grimstone, Jacob Schilt, Matt Jones, Graham Mallinson, Daniele Polito, Mark Reeves, Richard Smith and Mark Trussler.
Bloody disgusting