THE WEEK IN East Bristol & North East Somerset
23rd November 2022
Issue 757
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Keynsham family’s eight-year wait for justice ends A Dutch court has found three men guilty of the murder of
In 2014, all four were fighters for the self-proclaimed Donetsk
298 people – one of them from Keynsham – who had been
People’s Republic, a pro-Russia separatist movement.
onboard Flight MH17 when it was shot down over eastern
The men remain fugitives. Only Pulatov chose to appoint
Ukraine in 2014.
lawyers, who entered a not guilty on his behalf.
Ben Pocock, a former pupil of St John’s Primary School and
The victims came from 10 countries and more than half were
Wellsway School, had been on the Malaysia Airlines jet which
Dutch. The Netherlands has led the international investigation.
was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
Russia has always denied any involvement in the shooting
The 20-year-old second year international business degree
down of the Boeing 777.
student at Loughborough University had been en route to study
After Thursday’s sentencing Foreign Secretary James Cleverly
in Australia for six months.
said the guilty verdict was “an important step in securing
Last Thursday the court in The Hague handed down sentences
justice for the families of the victims”.
of life imprisonment to former Russian intelligence agents Igor
He added: “The downing of MH17 was a shocking violation
Girkin and Sergey Dubinskiy and Ukrainian separatist leader
of international norms which keep our societies safe. It serves
Leonid Kharchenko after finding them guilty. The judgement
as a stark reminder of the human cost of Russia’s actions in
included a 16 million euro damages award.
Ukraine over many years.”
A third Russian national, Oleg Pulatov, was acquitted owing
The Pocock family have contacted The Week In to say they are
to lack of evidence.
relieved that justice has been done after eight years. Ben Pocock
Also in this week’s issue
Developer says 70 new homes deal for Keynsham is ‘excellent’ . . . page 3
Find out what’s lined up for Keynsham’s Winter Festival . . . page 6
Get ready for Bristol’s Clean Air Zone . . . page 7
More cuts to bus services . . . page 14