A FAMILY has said it will not attend an inquest into the terror attacks in Tunisia in which 39 tourists died.

Philip Heathcote, 52, was among the Britons shot dead during the Sousse beach massacre by extremist Seifeddine Rezgui Yacoubi.

Mr Heathcote was well-known in north Essex as he was on the umpire’s panel for the Two Counties Cricket League.

His wife, Allison, 50, was also shot five times and was left fighting for her life in hospital.

Mrs Heathcote had been league secretary for 18 months before the horrific attack in June 2015.

The couple, who were on a two week holiday, had been due to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary.

Mrs Heathcote was shot twice in the shoulder and three times in her abdomen, but vital organs were missed.

She was operated on and put into an induced coma and her son, James, said she has made a significant recovery and has returned to work.

She is still involved with the cricket community.

However, Mrs Heathcote and her son, James, 28, who live in Felixstowe, have chosen not to attend the inquest which is being held at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

The hearing into the deaths of the 30 Britons in the assault by Seifeddine Rezgui Yacoubi heard yesterday a local investigation into the killings criticised some police for stalling as they made their way to the five-star Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel.

It heard Rezgui “systematically” gunned down the tourists on the hotel’s beach before going into the grounds and the building and killing more.

CCTV footage played to the courtroom, full of relatives of those who died, showed the killer as he approached the hotel with his gun hidden under a parasol.

Samantha Leek QC, counsel to the inquest, said a report by Tunisian Judge Akremi had identified failings by local units which could have ended the slaughter before more police arrived and shot Rezgui dead.

She said the inquest would hear evidence from that report citing an interior minister as saying some Tunisian security officers nearby had consciously slowed down their arrival.

Ms Leek said: “He said the units that should have intervened in the events deliberately and unjustifiably slowed down to delay their arrival at the hotel.

“They had the ability to put an end to the attack before the police arrived but wasted a considerable amount of time in getting to the hotel.”

The gunman’s route - said to be approximately 2.9km from the point he was dropped off to the point he was killed - was digitally reconstructed and shown to the court, with pictures of the victims appearing where they were shot.

Following the tragedy, tributes were paid to Mr Heathcote by Steve Isaac, results secretary for the Two Counties League and a committee member of Braintree cricket club, who described him as “a nice man, friendly, sociable”.

He also described Mrs Heathcote as “a wonderful person, helpful, sociable and bubbly” and who “believed passionately in her cricket.”