Six security guards charged over Tunisia attack response

Six security guards have been charged over their response to the Tunisian beach attack.

Sofian Sliti, a spokesman for Tunisia's judicial probe into the massacre, said the guards from the Riu Imperial Marhaba hotel had been charged with failing to help people in danger.

Another 14 people have been arrested, while a dozen others are also under investigation, he said.

Thirty Britons died at the Riu Imperial Marhaba in Sousse when lone gunman Seifeddine Rezgui opened fire on them in June 2015.

:: Tunisia beach attack: Who were the British victims killed in Sousse?

The Islamist attacker killed holidaymakers on the beach and in the hotel, before he was shot dead by police.

On Tuesday, judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith ruled the British victims were "unlawfully killed" and described the local police response to the attack as "at best shambolic, at worst cowardly".

During the inquest, it was heard that officers allowed Rezgui to go unchallenged for as long as 40 minutes because they were too scared to face him.

A report prepared for the Tunisian government said CCTV cameras showed that tourist security units "deliberately slowed down and did not intervene to stop the terrorist attack".

It added that though patrols were "prepared and equipped to intervene" they did not do so, in what was described as a "deliberate and unjustifiable" mistake.

Though Mr Loraine-Smith rejected calls from some relatives to rule that "neglect" by TUI played a role in the deaths, several families have said they will begin civil proceedings against the travel agent.

Mark Stocker, whose parents John and Janet were killed, told Sky News: "TUI were sending the people there and they should hold some accountability for lack of security in the premises."

Following the inquest, Andrew Richie QC, a lawyer representing families of 22 of those killed, said "appreciable security deficiencies" had been found at the Riu Imperial Marhaba.

He said the inquest revealed that TUI "did no audit on whether the hotel had any security against terrorist attacks".

Kylie Hutchison, another lawyer representing families, said the travel firm had been "unaware" of a letter sent by the Tunisian minister of tourism requiring all hotels to improve security measures.

TUI managing director Nick Longman said that on the day of the attack "the world changed".

He said: "As an industry we have adapted and we will need to continue to do so."