Coroners inquest, moving location of hearing

dori2o

We suffered a horrendous loss a couple of months ago when our daughter died suddenly and without explanation.

This happened whilst we were away from the area we live in (we were on holiday) and so as is the usual practice the coroner in the area where she died is in charge of the case.

Obviously we are devastated, and as time passes on we start to think about the pending Coroners Inquest hearing which is scheduled for November.

As we currently stand neither of us (the parents of child) feel able physically or mentally to return to the place where our nightmare happened, however as one of us is the person who found our daughter it's highly likely one or both of us will be summoned.

Also a factor is cost. We're now in quite significant debt due to the cost of funeral, grave, urns, headstone, etc, and by having the hearing in the Coroners area it means we will clearly have costs relating to travel, food and accommodation (I can't drive there and back on the same day due to disability and it's associated medications etc and there is nobody we could ask to take us so we'd have to stay overnight in a place neither of us wants to be).

As I understand it the coroners hearing is usually held within the district/area the death occurred, but I've recently discovered that the current legislation no longer requires that this is the case, meaning the hearing could be held anywhere in England or Wales.

I've read through the Chief Coroners Guidelines (found here) which states;

Location of inquest hearing
127. The restriction on holding an inquest within the coroner’s district was lifted when section 5(2) of the 1988 Act was repealed in February 2013. There is no equivalent provision in the 2009 Act, which allows inquests to be held anywhere in England and Wales. The Chief Coroner’s Guidance No.2 Location of Inquests should, however, be followed.

128. This makes clear that inquests should normally be held within the coroner’s area unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as a lack of available and appropriate court space for a jury inquest, or where it may be in the best interests of bereaved relatives to hold the inquest at a different location.

129. In reaching a decision on the venue for an inquest, as with all the other inquest arrangements, the coroner should take due account of the views of interested persons including bereaved relatives and the distances they may have to travel to attend the inquest.

The problem is I have no idea how to go about making a request to have the hearing location changed.

We have a police FLO (family liaison officer), however it's not an officer from our local police force, he is from the force in the place where our daughter died, therefore it's hard to keep up to date with things and seek advice.

We last spoke to the FLO last week and he said he would speak with his Chief Superintendent to see if there is anything they can do.

Would it be better for us to write directly to the Coroner and set out our position, concerns, etc and hope that they see things from our point of view?

If anyone has any advice to offer we would be grateful. If anyone has gone through the same issue and successfully had the hearing moved, again your advice would be much appreciated.

TonyMMM

The coroner is the only one who can make that decision, and it would be very rare to move an inquest in this type of circumstance - but you should start by ringing and speaking to one of his/her staff (known as coroner's officers).

The coroner should at least consider your request - but they also may have other witnesses and evidence to think about in making their final decision.

Assuming you are going to be giving evidence to the inquest - have you considered asking if it could be done by a video link ?

Keep_pedalling

Sorry you are having to go through such a horrible experience. You may not have to attend personally if the coroner is willing to accept a written statement. As Tony said call the coroners office.

If the worse come to the worse, don't worry about your travel costs which are allowable expenses that can be claimed back.

poppystar

Hi, so sorry for your loss.

I'm not sure it is of any help but I have served on an inquest jury where one of the key witnesses (the one who was with the deceased at the time of death) did not give evidence in person but a statement was read out. This was not good for us as a jury but the witness concerned had doctors backing that his presence would have worsened his health especially as it would mean reliving a traumatic incident.

I'm not clear if you do want to attend and it is just the location that is the problem or whether you would be fine with not attending. If the latter perhaps a first port of call would be to your own doctor to see if they would back you in not attending.

In my experience both as a juror and in personal dealings after a death I have found that coroners and their officers are very approachable and understanding so I wouldn't hesitate to speak to one of the coroners staff and explain your difficulties. They may be able to offer support and even provide details of any financial help that might be available with regard to expenses. They may also know of alternatives that you might not have thought about like Tony"s suggestion of video link or something like that.

I can appreciate the difficulty of being back where the incident happened but you might also want to think about whether you might regret it later if you don't attend the inquest. It may provide some closure and comfort in a way you maybe can't visualise now. Doing jury service we witnessed several families going through the process and despite being visibly very upset during the inquest they seemed (to an outsider!) to have a sense of relief at the end of the proceedings.

Sorry I can't be of more practical help. These things are, thankfully for most of us, not situations we have experienced and as with the aftermath of any death a steep learning curve for those left behind.

dori2o

Thanks for the replies.

It's not that we don't want to attend because we do. It will hopefully enable us to get the answers we are looking for as we have no idea why what has happened has happened.

We probably are not going to have a choice regarding attendance as she was found by one of us so I would expect the Coroner to want to have that parent present at the hearing to give a statement.

I'm hoping that we can use the wording contained within the guidance I linked to above to have the hearing moved to our local Coroners court.

It just hurts too much to even think about going back.

I personally don't see why the hearing shouldn't automatically be held at the coroners court closest to where the family lives, especially in cases where a person has died whilst away from their home. Surely it should be about ensuring as little unrest for the grieving family as possible? Or maybe I'm just being selfish.

Even the thought of returning to that place leads me into a minor panic attack and my spouse feels the same.

I appreciate that these tings have to be done, and I agree they should be concluded as soon as possible, but it's just too raw at the moment.

I don't like dealing with these things over the phone as I get too upset and can't concentrate. (strange really as I deal with customers on the telephone at work.)

We start to see a grievance counsellor next week and we go back to the Doctor. I think I'm going to ask for a letter suggesting that we would benefit from the hearing being moved and see where we go from there.

Thanks again for all the advice/opinion etc.

Yorkshireman99

Having dealt with coroners on two occasions I found the staff bent over backwards to be helpful. They deal with grieving relatives every working day. I strongly advise you to summon up the courage to call them and see what can be done. They will pay reasonable traveling expenses for you to get there. As for moving the hearing remember that if that is done then all the other people would have to travel to a different venue. That may not be possible.

getmore4less

Having been involved in one coroner case the staff are very supportive but can only do so much to help and mostly process.

if the circumstances are such that you need help understanding them you may need to look beyond the coroners court service for help.

dori2o

I know its a while since I last posted in this topic but here is an update.

The inquest has been moved to a local area and will take place on March 28.

The police and coroners office have been brilliant with us since it happened.

The police are arranging press statements for us just in case we are subject to the same harrassment from local press as we were back in July last year.