Author: Bridget Dolan QC

R (Bailey) v Secretary of State for Justice [2023] EWHC 821 (Admin) A challenge to the Secretary of State for Justice amending the Parole Board rules and issuing guidance about those changes is not obvious bed-time reading for those who work in the coronial jurisdiction.   But hidden within the series of judgments arising from this […]

Read More… from Refusal to answer a question seeking an opinion may be a contempt of court

Bell v HM Senior Coroner for South Yorkshire, King’s Bench Division (Administrative Court) 21 March 2023, [2023] 3 WLUK 342 Hot on the heels of his decision as part of the appellate bench in Dove[1] last week, comes another foray into the question of the extent of the scope of an inquest into a likely […]

Read More… from Cogent evidence required before a fresh inquest is ordered

Dove v Assistant Coroner for Teesside [2023] EWCA Civ 289 In Middleton[1] the House of Lords considered that a coroner determining ‘how’ a person died in a non-Art 2 inquest need only determine ‘by what means’ they died and not the broad circumstances .  But what does ‘by what means’ actually mean?  The answer seems […]

Read More… from What does ‘by what means’ actually mean? Peering through the looking glass at the scope of an inquest.

The Senior Coroner for Plymouth, Torbay and South Devon has issued five ‘Prevention of Future Deaths’ (‘PFD’) reports (see here) calling for “root and branch reform” of firearms legislation and training following the shooting of seven innocent people by Jake Davison with a legally-held shotgun in Plymouth in 2021. The Senior Coroner, Mr Ian Arrow, […]

Read More… from “Root and branch reform” of firearms legislation and training required