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These cases are from the lawindexpro database. They are now being transferred to the swarb.co.uk website in a better form. As a case is published there, an entry here will link to it. The swarb.co.uk site includes many later cases.  














Coroners - From: 2001 To: 2001

This page lists 16 cases, and was prepared on 20 May 2019.

 
Regina (Dawson) v HM Coroner for East Riding and Kingston upon Hull [2001] EWHC Admin 352
2001
Admn

Coroners

1 Citers



 
 Terry v Coroner for East Sussex; QBD 12-Jan-2001 - Times, 12 January 2001
 
James Fraser and Daniel Heron, Determination By Charles W Mcfarlane Into the Deaths of
5 Feb 2001
ScSf
Sheriff Charles W. McFarlane
Scotland, Coroners

[ ScotC ]
 
Regina on the Application of Scottt v Her Majesty's Coroner for Inner West London [2001] EWHC Admin 105
13 Feb 2001
Admn

Coroners

[ Bailii ]
 
Regina v Her Majesty's Coroner for Inner London North ex parte Peter Francis Touche Gazette, 17 May 2001; [2001] EWCA Civ 383; [2001] QB 1206
21 Mar 2001
CA

Coroners, Costs
The applicant's wife had died of a cerebral haemorrhage, the result of severe hypertension, possibly secondary to eclampsia. The coroner decided not to hold an inquest. The issue raised was whether he was required to hold an inquest because there was reasonable cause to suspect that she had died an unnatural death. Held: The coroner was wrong to conclude that a death was not unnatural within the Act where the death had occurred at a hospital when the hospital had failed adequately to monitor her blood pressure. The failure of a hospital to maintain standards of care was of concern to the public, and one of the coroners. Costs were awarded to the claimant both at the Court of Appeal and at the High Court, against the coroner when directing a new inquest into the death when there was no other means of indemnifying him for the expense to which he had been put, even though the coroner was a judicial officer who had conducted himself impeccably.
Coroners Act 1988 8(1)(a)
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]

 
 Regina v Avon Coroner, Ex Parte Bentley; QBD 23-Mar-2001 - Times, 23 March 2001
 
Keenan v The United Kingdom Times, 18 April 2001; 27229/95; (2001) 33 EHRR 38; [2001] ECHR 239; [2001] 10 BHRC 319; [2001] ECHR 242; (2001) 33 EHRR 913; [2011] ECHR 2266
3 Apr 2001
ECHR

Human Rights, Coroners
A young prisoner was known to be at risk of suicide, but nevertheless was not provided with adequate specialist medical supervision. He was punished for an offence, by way of segregation which further put him at risk. Held. Inhuman and degrading treatment had to achieve a certain standard of seriousness before it became an infringement, but after that might be relative to the circumstances. The court must also see whether an intention existed to debase and humiliate the person subjected to the treatment.
Despite the known risk, and identifiably increased risks, there were no medical notes for a period. The offence itself may have followed an unconsidered change in his medication. His article 3 rights had been infringed. Ill-treatment must attain a minimum level of severity if it is to fall within the scope of Article 3. The "inquest, which did not permit the determination of issues of liability, did not furnish the applicant with the possibility of establishing the responsibility of the prison authorities or obtaining damages." and "Given the fundamental importance of the right to the protection of life, Article 13 requires, in addition to the payment of compensation where appropriate, a thorough and effective investigation capable of leading to the identification and punishment of those responsible for the deprivation of life."
Hudoc Judgment (Merits and just satisfaction) No violation of Art. 2; Violation of Art. 3; Violation of Art. 13; Non-pecuniary damage - financial award; Costs and expenses partial award
European Convention on Human Rights Art 3
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ] - [ Bailii ] - [ Bailii ]
 
Regina v Greater Belfast Coroner, ex parte Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission Times, 11 May 2001
11 May 2001
CANI

Human Rights, Coroners, Constitutional, Northern Ireland
The Commission was a creation of statute, and had not been given power to intervene in judicial proceedings. The coroner was investigating deaths at Omagh from a terrorist bombing, and the Commission sought to intervene. The Act should not be read restrictively, but nor could provisions be read into it which did not exist at will. The Commission had its own powers to commence investigations. When it might become involved in proceedings, either it sought to influence the outcome or it did not. If it did not, it was an improper distraction, and if it did it would be an improper intrusion, threatening the appearance of independence of the judiciary. In either case costs would be increased and have to be paid, and new issues of equality of arms would arise.
Northern Ireland Act 1998

 
Terry v Coroner for East Sussex Times, 26 July 2001; Gazette, 06 September 2001
12 Jul 2001
CA
Simon Brown, May, Dyson LJJ
Coroners
The issue of a certificate to the Registrar of Deaths by a coroner, after a post mortem, but on the basis that an inquest was then thought unnecessary, did not make him functus officio. The procedure under the section did not replace the scheme for arranging an inquest. The court retained the power under section 13(1)(a) to order an inquest in the case of a refusal or neglect by a coroner to hold an inquest. That discretion should be exercised in a similar way to the procedures for judicial review, and only be used after a misdirection or irrational factual conclusion by the coroner.
Coroners Act 1988 19(3) 13
1 Cites


 
Jordan, Re Application for Judicial Review [2001] NIQB 32
4 Sep 2001
QBNI
Kerr J
Northern Ireland, Police, Coroners, Human Rights
An application was made for the production of documents by the police to support representations to be made on behalf of the family of the deceased to the coroner. The police requested but were refused undertakings as to their use.
European Convention on Human Rights 2
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
Inquiry Into the Death of Mohammed Tasleen Iqbal [2001] ScotSC 18
20 Sep 2001
ScSf

Scotland, Coroners
The matter concerned the death of a trainee diver. The court refused to make some of the recommendations requested, about the need for regulation of diving schools, as going beyond the scope of a fatal accident enquiry. The court restricted its formal findings and recommendations to the circumstances immediately attendant upon the death.
Diving at Work Regulations 1997 (SI 1997 No 2776)
[ Bailii ]
 
Inquiry Into the Death of William Norman Forsyth
24 Sep 2001
ScSf
Sheriff C.G. McKay
Scotland, Coroners

[ ScotC ]
 
Regina (Amin) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2001] EWHC Admin 719; [2002] 3 WLR 505
5 Oct 2001
QBD
Mr Justice Hooper
Coroners, Prisons, Human Rights
An Asian youth was placed in a cell with another who was well known to be violent and racist. He was bludgeoned to death. The family sought a public investigation into how he came to be placed in such a position. An investigation had been refused by the Home Office. The family claimed, under the Human Rights Act, a right to have the matter determined. Investigations by the Coroner, and the Commission for Racial Equality would be limited. Contrary to what the Home Office said, the trial had done nothing to establish how the decision was made to put the two together. There had been an investigation which rejected the possibility of criminal action against the Prison Service. This was not public. An internal Prisons Service enquiry left several questions outstanding. Article 2 imposed a duty to protect life, and investigate a failure to do so. That investigation must be independent, effective, reasonably prompt, allow public scrutiny, and involve next of kin. That had not been satisfied. A declaration was granted requiring the Home Office to conduct such an investigation.
European Convention on Human Rights Art 2
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
Regina (on the Application of Jean Marshall) v Her Majesty's Coroner for Coventry [2001] EWHC Admin 804
22 Oct 2001
Admn
The Honourable Mr Justice Hooper
Coroners
The applicant sought judicial review of the verdict of the coroner's jury that a death had been accidental. The deceased, a schizophrenic died of an overdose of crack cocaine, whilst in police custody. His family sought a verdict of accidental death contributed to by neglect. Held: In this case the possibility of such a finding would arise if the custody officer had known of the ingestion of cocaine but had failed to act, Here, the deceased had lied about what he had done, but the officer had called the police surgeon. The review was denied.
1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
Nicholls v Coroner for City of Liverpool [2001] EWHC Admin 922; [2001] EWHC 922 (Admin); [2001] Inquest LR 249; [2002] ACD 13
8 Nov 2001
Admn
Rose LJ, Sullivan J
Coroners
As the deceased was arrested he swallowed something. He was examined by a doctor and denied that he had swallowed drugs, but his condition deteriorated and he died at hospital. The coroner refused to admit the evidence of a professor who was highly critical of the conduct of the doctor who had seen the deceased, and said that an antidote should have been prescribed. The coroner found insufficient evidence of neglect to leave that issue to the jury, and they returned a verdict of death by misadventure. Held: The professor should have been called even though it might well have led to a further adjournment "measured in weeks or perhaps one to two months". The coroner’s principal reason for refusing to call the professor was that his report was concerned on its face not with neglect applying the Jamieson test, but with medical negligence applying the Bolam test, "Notwithstanding Mr Burnett’s submission that neglect and negligence are two different ‘animals’, there is, in reality, no precise dividing line between ‘a gross failure to provide …basic medical attention’ and a ‘failure to provide... medical attention’. The difference is bound to be one of degree, highly dependent on the facts of the particular case. . . . Standing back and looking at the facts of the present case, one starts with a death in custody. As the then Master of the Rolls said in Jamieson, such deaths rightly arouse acute public concern. Professor Redmond’s report stated that this death in custody was ‘entirely preventable’ by steps that could have been expected of any doctor acting to a reasonable standard. . . . Such a statement in respect of the death of a person in custody pointed to a need for the fullest investigation. The steps that Professor Redmond was suggesting would have been taken by any doctor acting to a reasonable standard were neither complex nor sophisticated. They amounted to doing no more than checking the patient’s respiratory rate and the arranging for it to be checked after about another hour, rather than simply leaving the patient until the next morning . . . So far as causation is concerned ... in my judgment it is important not to read the Master of the Rolls words in Jamieson as though they were contained in an enactment, or to apply them in an over literal manner."
Application for judicial review of coroner's decision on behalf of child daughter of deceased. He had died in police custody having taken opiates. The coroner had refused an adjournment for the family to call expert evidence as to the proper treatment of such a patient. Held: The coroner's reasons for not allowing the adjournment for the evidence did not stand up. As a death in police custody, it required a full public examination. That had not been done, and the verdict of misadventure was quashed and a fresh inquest was ordered.
Coroners Act 1988 13
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
Middleton, Regina (on the Application of) v Coroner for the Western District of Somerset [2001] EWHC Admin 1043
14 Dec 2001
Admn
Stanley Burnton J
Prisons, Coroners, Human Rights
The deceased had committed suicide whilst in prison. It was argued that the prison should have recognised that he was a suicide risk, and acted accordingly. The coroner had requested a note from the jury as to the cause of death. The court considered whether a coroner's inquest satisfied the requirements for an investigation of a death in custody: "However, where there has been neglect on the part of the State, and that neglect was a substantial contributory cause of the death, my view is that a formal and public finding of neglect on the part of the State is in general necessary in order to satisfy those requirements [of article 2]." An inquest would not necessarily satisfy the procedural requirements of article 2 in such a case, but the court declined to order that the jury's note be incorporated in the inquisition, because inter alia the coroner had acted unlawfully in suggesting production of the note. No declaration was needed but, at the request of the Secretary of State, declared that: "by reason of the restrictions on the verdict at the inquest into the death of [the deceased] . . . that inquest was inadequate to meet [the] procedural obligation in Article 2 of the European Convention . . ."
European Convention on Human Rights 2
1 Cites

1 Citers


 
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