Family of British man killed by Hamas lash out at ‘cold’ Foreign Office
The parents of a British 26-year-old who was murdered by Hamas said their treatment by “cold and heartless” Foreign Office officials has left them feeling “desolate”.
Michael and Lisa Marlowe, from Potters Bar in Hertfordshire, said they have been “utterly let down” by the Government following their son Jake’s death and criticised a “derisory” compensation payment.
Jake Marlowe grew up in north London but moved to live in Israel two years ago after becoming worried about rising anti-Semitism in the UK. He was killed at the Supernova music festival when Hamas terrorists stormed southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023.
Mr Marlowe, a 62-year-old former JP Morgan trader, said: “To put it bluntly, we’ve been disregarded by the British Government. They have shown little or no compassion about the tragic and senseless loss of our son Jake, a peace-loving British citizen who was murdered at just 26-years-old with his whole life ahead of him.
“We are grieving parents and we are sinking ever lower through our lack of help, understanding and care from our Government. Jake was a UK citizen, we are UK citizens and it is just outrageous how we are being treated. We are feeling grievously let down by our country.”
Mrs Marlowe, who is a full time carer for her 24-year-old daughter Natasha who has special needs, said she found the weekly pro-Palestinian marches in central London “terrifying”, adding: “Nothing is done about it. We would never go into town on a Saturday. We just feel like the whole country is against us. A lot of Jewish people are talking about leaving the country.”
Mr Marlowe described how UK Government officials have presided over a “catalogue” of errors, from initially refusing to organise the repatriation of Jake’s body – which they later apologised for – to disclosing incorrect information about the nature of his death.
But most of all, Mr Marlowe and his wife are upset by the lack of compassion they have been shown by officials, saying: “It has shocked us to the very core how cold and uncaring they are. Jake’s murder seems insignificant and unimportant to the British Government.
“There should be a knock on the door, and a ‘how can we help you’? Instead they have been obtrusive in every possible way. Meanwhile, it’s the polar opposite with the Israeli Government which is jumping over itself to help us. In the cold light of day, Jake was a UK citizen.”
Mr Marlowe reserved particular criticism for Simon Walters, the British Ambassador to Israel, who he feels “completely and utterly” let down by.
Four days after the Oct 7 massacre, Mr Marlowe flew out to Israel in the hope of finding his son who was at that time still missing. Mr Walters came to visit Mr Marlowe and told him they had intelligence to suggest that Jake was still alive, and had been taken into Gaza as a hostage.
Mr Marlowe said the exchange was emotional as they spoke “father to father” and during the conversation, Mr Walters “had tears in his eyes and a frog in his throat”.
However, later that day, two IDF soldiers came to deliver the news that the Marlowe family had been dreading: that Jake had been murdered by Hamas.
After this initial meeting, Mr Marlowe did not hear from the ambassador again. “It was the total lack of communication,” he said. “Just a phone call, a brief message or a letter, it would have taken five minutes at best.” Mrs Marlowe added: “Nothing, not a hello, not a goodbye, not a text”.
Mr Marlowe described how his family were initially told that the UK Government would neither organise nor foot the bill for repatriating the body.
“It was cold and heartless and matter of fact, they said it was down to us,” he said.
But it later transpired this information was not correct, and about two months later a foreign office official “apologise[d] unreservedly” that they had been misinformed.
Another heartache for the Marlowe family was the conflicting information they were given about how their son died. “When I went to identify Jake in Israel, the forensics guy said he was shot twice – in the chest and in the neck,” Mr Marlowe recalled.
This was on Oct 11, in a temporary morgue set up at an army base, four days after the massacre in southern Israel by Hamas.
“I could identify Jake by his tattoos, and I know his boots. I had to kiss him goodbye and tell him I love him. The body had already started to decompose because it had been outside for four days. It is something that will be with me until my last breath.”
Back in the UK, an official autopsy was carried out and the Marlowes were invited to a meeting with the coroner where they were shown Jake’s official death certificate.
The document, dated Oct 31, stated that his cause of death was “gunshot wounds to head, neck and chest”, which left them with the impression he had been shot three times.
Then, at a meeting with counter terrorism police on Jan 11, they were informed that Jake had in fact been shot nine times. “To hear that our son was shot nine times, sent us spiralling into an even deeper, darker, hole,” Mr Marlowe said.
He added that he does not hold any ill will against the Israeli forensic expert, given that it was only four days after the massacre and Israel was still a “battle zone”.
Mr Marlowe explained: “He had been identifying bodies for 22 hours without a break. We were at an army base and all you could see was lorries coming in – they weren’t carrying food, they were carrying bodies”.
The Marlowes hit out at the “derisory” and “insulting” compensation payment of £11,000 that they were eligible for, under the Victims of Overseas Terrorism Compensation Scheme, pointing out that those who are injured are entitled to more than those who have been killed.
They were also upset that despite being offered a meeting with the Foreign Secretary, they read in the news about a meeting they had not been invited to, between Lord Cameron and the relatives of British hostages.
Officials stressed that the Marlowe family have been offered a meeting with the Foreign Secretary as well as with the ambassador to Israel since their son’s death.
Jake had been working as a security guard at the Supernova music festival in southern Israel, along with his friends Aviv and Shlomi. Aviv was murdered and Shlomi was taken into captivity in Gaza, where he remains.
Mr and Mrs Marlowe said Jake took up the festival job to earn some extra money so he could take his girlfriend on a trip to Jerusalem for her birthday where they believed he may have even proposed to her.
Recalling her last conversation with him, Mrs Marlowe said: “He phoned at 4.30am – so 6.30am Israeli time – to tell me loads of rockets were going over but that we weren’t to worry because the IDF and the police were there. But obviously it wasn’t, it was Hamas in IDF and police clothing. He said he loved us very much and that was the last we heard from him.”
Later they learned that he had tried to save the lives of people at the music festival by getting people to safety on a quad bike.
“He was always a hero to us and he was murdered as a hero, trying to save people,” Mrs Marlowe said.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We offer our sincere condolences to Jake’s parents, family and friends at this horrific time. We continue to provide consular support to Jake’s parents”.
They added that the Marlowe family are being supported by police family liaison officers as well as consular officials.
