HM Coroner For Isle Of Wight V HM Prison Service (1 April 2015)
Successful claim under section 13 Coroners Act 1988 by the coroner for an order quashing the inquisition touching the death of AB, and requiring the coroner to hold a fresh inquest. The original inquest was held in 1995 and concerned the death of AB in custody. It had recorded that AB had been found hanging from the window bars of the bathroom block of the prison, and recorded an open verdict. In 2013, AB’s cell mate was convicted of AB’s murder. Her Majesty’s Coroner for the Isle of Wight took the view that the open verdict recorded by the original inquest and on AB’s death certificate was incorrect, and therefore applied to the Attorney General for his fiat to make an application for the inquisition to be quashed and for a fresh inquest to be held. The court held that there was a single question to be answered, namely whether the interests of justice made a further inquest either necessary or desirable, and concluded that the only possible answer to that question in the instant matter was yes.
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Estelle appeared for the coroner.
