The deceased was found suspended by a sheet in her prison cell. The jury found accidental death, not being satisfied that she was not issuing a cry for help. The family appealed saying that the jury had not been directed that they could provide a narrative verdict to explain further their conclusions.
Held: The jury had not been misdirected but that, even if there had been a misdirection as claimed, he would not have remitted the matter for a new inquest because, taking into account a report of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman published shortly before the inquest, the investigative obligation imposed upon the state by Article 2 had been effectively discharged.
Beatson J said: ‘I reject the submission that it was incumbent on the Coroner to direct the jury expressly that a narrative summary should be added to a short form verdict. That essentially would have created a hybrid. The jury had three options open to them. They were ‘enabled’ to express their conclusions on the core facts if they considered that the two short form verdicts did not do so.
I also conclude that it is possible to infer from this verdict that the accident verdict was sufficient to express the jury’s factual conclusions and conclusion that there was insufficient evidence that the 12 acts or omissions contributed to the death in more than a minimal or trivial way.’
Judges:
Beatson J
Citations:
[2009] EWHC 820 (Admin)
Links:
Statutes:
European Convention on Human Rights 2
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Appeal from – P, Regina (on The Application of) v HM Coroner for The District of Avon CA 18-Dec-2009
The deceased was found hanging in her prison cell. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death, not being satisfied that she was not merely making a cry for help. The family appealed a finding that the inquest had satisfied the requirement for a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Coroners, Prisons, Human Rights
Updated: 06 December 2022; Ref: scu.341842
