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 . . .’
Judges:
Stanley Burnton J
Citations:
[2001] EWHC Admin 1043
Statutes:
European Convention on Human Rights 2
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Walthamstow Coroner, Ex parte Rubenstein 19-Feb-1982
The 1988 Act was a consolidating Act. . .
Cited – Regina v HM Coroner for Birmingham, Ex parte Secretary of State for the Home Department 1990
. .
Cited – Regina v Coroner for Western District of Sussex Ex Parte Homberg Roberts and Mannerss QBD 27-Jan-1994
A Coroner’s enquires should be as to ‘how’ the death arose, and not into all the circumstances contributing to the death.
Simon Brown LJ said: ‘It is clear that the coroner’s over-riding duty is to inquire ‘how’ the deceased came by his death . .
Cited by:
Appeal from – Regina (Amin) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; Regina (Middleton) v Coroner for West Somersetshire CA 27-Mar-2002
A prisoner had been killed in his cell by a cell-mate known to be unstable and racist. His family sought to be involved in the inquiry into the death within the prison system. A second prisoner hanged himself in his cell. His family alleged that he . .
Cited – Middleton, Regina (on the Application of) v Coroner for the Western District of Somerset HL 11-Mar-2004
The deceased had committed suicide in prison. His family felt that the risk should have been known to the prison authorities, and that they had failed to guard against that risk. The coroner had requested an explanatory note from the jury.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Prisons, Coroners, Human Rights
Updated: 14 July 2022; Ref: scu.194501