2013

Cases Reported

Hartshorne v Gardner	1
Issue: Whether a body should be released to the deceased’s father or mother for disposal.

Markham v HM Coroner Greater London	4
Issue: Whether new medical evidence as to cause of death required a fresh inquest to be held.

McMahon’s Application	5
Issue: Whether Art 2 ECHR required an inquest where there had already been a criminal trial and manslaughter conviction.

R (Shaw) v HM Coroner and HM Assistant Deputy Coroner for Leicester City and S Leicestershire and others	10
Issue: Whether inquest flawed by delay, bias and/or inadequate procedures or investigation; whether the deceased consented to medical procedure.

R (Lagos) v HM Coroner for London (Austin as Interested Party)	34
Issue: Whether a verdict of suicide should have been returned; whether the procedure adopted at an inquest was unfair.

R (Sreedharan) v HM Coroner for Greater Manchester	42
Issue: Whether admission of extensive character evidence went beyond the legitimate scope of a jury inquest; whether the verdict of suicide ought to have been left to the jury.

Carroll, Woodhouse and Woodhouse v Coroners Court at Auckland and New Zealand Police	52
Issue: Whether a finding of contribution to a death by omission to call emergency services was reasonably made; whether statutory provisions and natural justice required: (i) notice of the inquest where conduct was likely to be called into question; and/or (ii) notice of and a reasonable opportunity to respond to a proposed adverse comment to be given.

Attorney General’s Application for Judicial Review	67
Issue: Whether Coroners in Northern Ireland have jurisdiction to hold an inquest into a stillbirth.

R v Patel	70
Issue: Whether the offence of wilfully neglecting a person lacking capacity under s44 Mental Capacity Act 2005 required causation of injury to be established; whether the trial judge correctly directed the jury as to the meaning of ‘wilfully’.

Rogers and Rogers v Hoyle	75
Issue: Whether a report produced by the Air Accident Investigation Branch of the Department for Transport was admissible as evidence in civil proceedings.

R (Mousa and others) v Secretary of State for Defence (No 2)	93
Issue: Whether the Iraq Historic Allegations Team was sufficiently independent; whether a public inquiry should be established into allegations against the British forces in Iraq.

R (Mousa and others) v Secretary of State for Defence (No 2)	122
Issue: The form and process that IHAT inquiries should take where no prosecutions were to be brought into deaths alleged against the British forces in Iraq.

CM v Executor of the Estate of EJ (deceased) and HM Coroner for S London	132
Issue: Whether a declaratory order should be made permitting blood/tissue sampling of the deceased for the benefit of a third party.

Smith and others v The Ministry of Defence; Ellis v The Ministry of Defence; Allbutt and others v The Ministry of Defence	135
Issue: Whether claims which raised fundamental issues about the duties of care owed to British serviceman engaged in active operations overseas pursuant to, inter alia, Art 2 ECHR should be allowed to proceed to trial.

R (Duffy) v HM Deputy Coroner for Worcestershire (Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust as Interested Party)	172
Issue: Whether the Coroner was correct to refuse to adjourn an inquest in circumstances where the Coroner’s appointed expert lacked current experience.

Worcestershire County Council and Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Board v HM Coroner for the County of Worcestershire	179
Issue: Whether Individual Management Reviews and Information Reports, prepared for a Serious Case Review following the death of a young person in state care, have public interest immunity from disclosure at inquest.

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs v Assistant Deputy Coroner for Inner North London	193
Issue: Whether “properly interested persons” in an inquest should be “interested parties” in related judicial review proceedings.

R (Plantagenet Alliance Ltd) v Secretary of State for Justice and others	204
Issue: Whether the Secretary of State for Justice had a common law duty to consult widely as to how and where the remains of Richard III should be buried.

Matthews v Collins (t/a Herbert Collins & Sons) and others	211
Issue: Whether it was unreasonable to agree to disposal of histology samples in an industrial disease claim.

R (Antoniou) v (1) Central And North West London NHS Foundation Trust, (2) Secretary of State for Health, (3) NHS England	224
Issue: Whether the failure to hold an independent investigation into the death of someone detained under the Mental Health Act 1983, in addition to an inquest, breached Art 2 ECHR; whether the lack of an inquiry such as occurred in relation to deaths in prison or police custody breached Art 14 together with Art 2 and/or the Equality Act 2010.

Greenough v The Ministry of Justice	247
Issue: Whether the Ministry of Justice had unlawfully refused public funding for representation at an inquest.

Sarjantson v Chief Constable of Humberside	252
Issue: Whether the operational duty under Art 2 ECHR to protect those who were at real and immediate risk of death extended to the protection of unidentified or unidentifiable individuals.

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs v Assistant Deputy Coroner for Inner North London	258
Issue: Whether the Coroner correctly approached the question of whether a PII certificate should be upheld.

Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall v HM Coroner for Plymouth, Torbay and S Devon	269
Issue: Whether a question regarding the adequacy of police procedures should be left to a jury in the absence of evidence as to appropriate standards; whether the Court should intervene in an inquest that was still proceeding.

Davey v HM Coroner for Leicestershire	275
Issue: Whether to review a decision not to empanel a jury; whether the Coroner’s reasons were adequate.