Covid Inquiry: 'United in our grief' says relative who lost dad and sister

Jane Roche (far left) with others, holding up photos of their loved ones outside the hearing centre in London

A woman whose father and sister died with Covid within days of each other says she is united in grief with other families who lost loved ones.

Holding photos of her relatives, Jane Roche was outside Dorland House, London with many others, at the first public hearing of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

No-one will be found "guilty" or "innocent" during the inquiry.

Ms Roche, from Castle Vale, said: "We are united in our grief and our fight for justice".

The inquiry's aim is to learn lessons from the pandemic, with the first public hearing looking at the country's resilience and preparedness for it.

Ms Roche, whose father Vincent Pettitt and sister Jocelyn died in April 2020 during the first Covid peak, said: "Anyone with common sense would have shut down this country far earlier than they did and it would have saved thousands of lives".

The inquiry's lead lawyer Hugo Keith KC, said the UK was "fundamentally" "taken by surprise" by the pandemic, with the government's focus on Brexit "crowding out and preventing" preparations for a pandemic.

Jane Roche lost her father Vince Pettitt and older sister within a week of each other

A 17-minute video featuring Ms Roche was shown at the start of the inquiry, which was set up in 2021 by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

"The film is really moving, and I could cry thinking about it - I cried all the way through telling the story of what happened to my dad and Jocelyn," she said.

"If that doesn't get to the people that are in there giving evidence... then I don't know what will."

Matthew Fowler, co-founder of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families For Justice group, spoke outside the centre where the inquiry is being held

Ms Roche, whose sister was waiting for the birth of her third grandchild when she died, is part of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families For Justice group.

It was co-founded by Matthew Fowler in 2020, after his father died with the virus.

Mr Fowler, from Nuneaton, was the first person to paint a red heart on the UK's largest Covid memorial, on a wall along the South Bank of the River Thames.

To date, more than 220,000 people in the UK have died with Covid on their death certificate.

The inquiry is expected to last until at least 2025 and is chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett, a retired judge and crossbench peer, who previously led the inquests into the 7/7 London bombings.

"We want answers," Ms Roche said.