*TW* has anyone got experience of going to an inquest

[needabitofguidance]

Posting here to brace myself a little and would love some insight in to what an unnatural death inquest looks like.

I lost my DD and dealing with an awful lot of grief so please be gentle. I have a suspicion that it was not an accident and we know no other parties were involved. I’d really like not to share details but get some information on what’s likely to be shown in an inquest.

I particularly want to know if evidence will be shown, things from phone laptop or is it just a meeting to say what they believe happened? Thanks

https://coronerscourtssupportservice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CCSS-EL_Inquest_Factsheet_Final29317221_3.pdf

The above is a helpful list of what happens and why.

I have a relative who is a coroner and she goes to great lengths to ensure the family is given the answers as to what happened.

Do call the coroners office to ask what the procedures are, they will try to help you.

I am sorry for your loss 💐

Hello! I work in this area of law. Im so sorry for your loss.

The style can vary from geographical jurisdiction but in general:

An inquest is a final hearing and it is a court hearing but may be more informal than other types of court.

In advance you will receive disclosure of the evidence the coroner has gathered. This will include witness statements. The coroner will indicate which witnesses they are going to call to be asked questions.

If there is a witness the coroner is not intending to call but you disagree with their account or have more questions for them that are relevant then tell the coroners officer the reasons why you would like the witness to be called.

The coroner can look at phone evidence etc but it needs to be provided in advance so if you have evidence the coroner doesnt have you should send them a copy in advance.

In court the coroner asks questions first. They will take the most time. Then you have chance. Then any other interested persons if there are any. The coroner will help you you do not need a lawyer unless you want one.

A coroner is required by law to answer four questions. Who the deceased was, where they died, when they died and how they died. Anything outside of this will be considered irrelevant and you wont be allowed to ask about. E.g. deceased dies in 2026 of condition x and family are concerned about unrelated missed diagnosis in 2025 of other condition.

You will have the opportunity to speak if you want it. For example sometimes people are keen to express that the circumstances may suggest the loved one took their own life but they believe it was an accident because of xyz. You can tell the coroner anything you feel is relevant.

Inquests are public hearings so press can attend and report on what is said in court. There is nothing legally that can prevent this.

If you have specific questions feel free to PM me. I cant offer specific advice but can answer questions on the process.

Grief is a terrible thing and loss of a child is unthinkable. Sending solidarity in this awful time.

Hello @needabitofguidance - firstly I am so sorry to hear this and that you are about to face this. I lost my brother 7 years ago and I can tell you what happened. It will differ depending on case and what the evidence is.

1. Inquests are open to anybody, anyone can come including Press. No one turned up to ours, but it can. This is obviously distressing for many people.
2. You are not obliged to attend if you don't want to. Only witnesses are obligated. You could just wait for the verdict and live with that if it suits you better.
3. Ours was quite straightforward, just paperwork that the Coroner ran through and asked witnesses clarifying questions.
4. My dad found the witnesses distressing as he blamed them for the death and he openly expressed it and had to be told to be quiet or he would have to leave. It can be hard if you find yourself in this situation. The evidence may well be distressing.
5. At the end the Coroner summarised what she heard and then gave a verdict and why (in our case this was misadventure, though I feared suicide which would have broken what was left). You need to be prepared as much as you can to hear a verdict you may not want.
6. You can leave at any point. It was useful for my parents from a grieving POV, I didnt want to go but went to support them.

I hope that helps and wish you well.

Absolutely spot on and great post.

Thank you all so much - @AgualusasL0ver I’m sorry for your loss too.

A couple more questions to you all if I may - this was so unexpected and the guilt of not seeing this is eating me up. The police said there is no investigation and that everything is being handled by the coroner. In which case where do the witnesses come from? Is it that through texts or something they feel they would need to question a particular person? I have also seen on the coroners website a list of upcoming inquests and some names come up on multiple dates. Is this likely to last several days? I’m just preparing myself.

Thank you. Im so sorry for your loss too but I hope the inquest process, awful as it can be, did help with closure in the longer term.

I have worked in different areas of law but truly believe inquests are a vital and powerful tool for change and for helping with grief. I might just be biased though!

Ask as many questions as you like.

There is a huge variety of length of hearing. For example an unnatural death in prison (overdose for example) would need a jury. This might take days or even weeks to hear.

A case where someone took their own life and it was a complete surprise to everyone and they didn't tell their family or a doctor and were not known to services might have a listing of 1 hour and not actually call any witnesses to speak because the facts were clear and not disputed.

Police are required to attend all unexpected deaths in the community. Their first act is to rule out criminal activity. So to check the person was not killed or the victim of a crime which resulted in their death.

Once that has happened the coroner has jurisdiction. All police officers are by common law coroner's officers. So any statements taken by them will be provided to the coroner. E.g. from neighbours, last person to see the deceased alive etc.

The case is then handed to coroner's officers who are usually police civilian staff though can be local authority staff. Their job is to investigate for the coroner. So they will contact the GP or mental health services etc and request relevant statements from people who may have information.

Family can submit their own statement in advance if you want to setting out the person who they were and any thoughts or questions.

You should have an allocated coroner's officer who has been in tough with you. You are welcome to contact them and they can explain who they are asking for statements from an and why.

In a "straight forward" case you may only have a post mortem report, gp statements, family statement and police report.

At the other end of the scale there could be 1000 pages of relevant medical records. Its extremely variable.

Thank you @Mooselooseinmyhoose this is the sort of stuff google has not been able to give me.

I think it’ll be the latter? Just based on what has happened so far. It didn’t happen in any sort of facility.

I haven’t had a date through at all so the waiting is weighing me down. But it’s good to know they will share some of this before I go in.

I'm so so sorry for your loss

Last year I had to attend my younger sister's inquest after she took her own life.

There will be an inquest bundle prepared which you will be sent in advance, so you will be able to see exactly what will be shown and who (if anyone) will be called to give evidence. But you won't know what any of the witnesses called might say when questioned, so be prepared for that.

Has the date been set yet? And, were there any services/professionals (ie MH, social services etc) involved with her at the time of her death?

I ask about services because in my sister's case, we pushed for the inquest to be heard under Article 2 as we felt that the state bore responsibility for her at the time of her death (or rather, should have borne responsibility and knew so at the time but had failed to do so). The coroner agreed with us and so the inquest was heard over 3 days and multiple witnesses from various NHS trusts and departments were called. If you feel that there is any suggestion that she was failed by any state services, this might be something you want to explore. A charity called Inquest can offer advice and support if you do want to look more into that.

Thank you @AuContrairePubicHair im so sorry for your loss too.

If there were services involved, I have no knowledge. I have no date yet, I’m piecing it all together through talking with her friends. I just really wish someone had alerted me to her state of mind before. And actually none of this could even come up - it’s bits I’m finding out myself and the police wrapped up really quickly and deemed an accident so it could be that I leave with more questions than answers.

The police deem it non suspicious, only a coroner can determine if its an accident or deliberate or somewhere in between.

They then hand it over to the coroner. Just because the police say that doesn't mean thats what the end result will be.

Have you had contact from a coroner's officer yet? If not I would ring the coroner's office in the morning and ask to be contacted. They may be able to reassure you about the logistics.

@Mooselooseinmyhoose you in your insight and compassion for @needabitofguidance has really reinstated my belief in kindness and humanity, thank you

You are far too kind but thank you. Anything that brings a little light in the darkness of grief is the very least I can do. Xx

It can be some time. My brother died in April and his Inquest was the first week of October, so be prepared for a possible wait. This was difficult because no was over it or had moved on, but we had months of trying to piece life back together and then we sort of went back to ground zero. But, I do know that the verdict of misadventure helped my parents greatly. It meant that they did not have to grapple with the thought that he had taken his own life, so did provide its own sort of help in the healing process.

@Mooselooseinmyhoose honestly thank you - i echo what @PoppinjayPolly said. This forum can really do a lot of good sometimes.

I will ring up and ask. I’m praying it doesn’t take months. They’re waiting for toxicology at the moment which they advised will take 6-8w

We had an initial hearing 7 months after her death and then had to wait another 7 months for the full inquest, but that was in part because we pushed for it to be heard under Article 2 which meant further evidence had to be gathered and witnesses called.

The coroner's office were very very kind, respectful, and helpful the whole way through. So do call them for advice on the process if you need to.

@needabitofguidancevery sorry for your loss.

I was on the jury for two inquests, of people who sadly lost their lives in workplace accidents. My overwhelming view of the process was how thorough it was, every aspect was examined, and also how sensitively it was handled. The judge in particular was really caring and spoke very personally to the families of the deceased in his summing up. It really felt like a very caring and humane handling of two absolutely awful situations. I wish you well and hope you have a similar experience.

In my experience the staff and the coroner were very kind a professional. We had an officer who supported us on the day before the inquest commenced and we were sent information in advance. Just a word of warning that it did also contain the post mortem report and I wouldn’t recommend reading it as it is very detailed and quite traumatic to read. You don’t need to know the full PM details 🩷
Both the inquests I attended were suicides and witnesses included the attending police officers, paramedics, the GP wouldn’t attend and sent a statement instead. I think that was everyone.
It took around 7 months iirc to get a date for the inquest.
the coroner said some really kind words and it made a sad situation easier on all of us.
He did ask us questions as one of my family members case wasn’t clear if they had attempted to reverse what they had done so if we’d have needed him to (if there had been life insurance) the coroner was prepared to put it as accidental rather than suicide. (I know it’s not recorded as suicide anymore but I can’t recall the term)
Very sorry for your loss
suicide, if indeed it was, is a tough & hugely complex bereavement to deal with

I just came on to say I am so sorry for your loss. I hope you have some support around you.

Can I also add to other posters’ comments about how hard and sad this must be for you and your family and express my sympathy.
I attended an inquest in similar circumstances to you. The officer who spoke to us on the phone and the coroner and other staff were really kind and sensitive. The witness who attended was the last person to see my relative and was asked questions to clarify state of mind. Other submissions were made in writing eg a doctor.

We were able to ask questions and get some clarity about some medical details. No one was there from the press.

I thought that the process was conducted in a respectful way and we found it helped us as a family to achieve some closure. I hope it does for you too.

I went to my father’s. He passed in a road traffic accident and even though my mum was there, she could not remember anything.

Everybody there was lovey and understanding. I understood exactly what happened and gained a greater understanding from a witness who came. The policemen who gave their statement came and spoke to me afterwards and said they would be happy to talk to me some more if I wanted and were very happy I came because as they said the inquest is for the families.

The only oddness was was the young reporter who wanted a statement for the story. I was too upset to talk but I wish I had because they got his name wrong in the story. However because of the story, a few people got in touch who had not known.

I am glad I went, I would not repeat the experience. My mother refused as it was too painful for her.

Only you can decide.

I am so sorry for your loss.

Thank you to all those who commented additionally. And I’m sorry for your losses too.

It’s somewhat comforting to know that all those inquests were done with a lot of compassion - I don’t know but I imagined something more clinical. I’ve been on a regular jury before so maybe that’s how I associate any kind of judge / court.

@pkt3chgirl I’m sorry about that reporter. It’s my biggest fear having someone digging in to the situation. But it sounds like they don’t turn up to random inquests, rather things like accidents that have been reported on at the time?

@GinandGingerBeer thank you for the heads up about the PM. In what sense was it a lot of detail? Do you mean it was too hard to come to terms with emotionally or that it was a lot of jargon?

I'm so sorry for your loss.

I've attended two inquests, one of which concerned the death of my BIL who took his own life. The other was separate but concerned the accidental death of someone he knew which formed part of the circumstances of his death.

It was a long time ago and some procedures may have changed. My overriding memory is that the coroner's officer allocated to support the family was incredibly kind and helpful.

As a PP has indicated the coroner made clear, as sensitively as possible, that he would seek answers to the 'who, where, when and how' questions regarding the death but he could not investigate or reach any conclusions on 'why'. In the case of suicide, this is the biggest question the deceased's family may have and it is best to be prepared that the inquest may not provide the answers they so desperately want.

I agree with a PP that you may wish to avoid reading the post mortem report. It is very, very graphic about the process of a post mortem. Some members of my family found it very upsetting to read details, not about the actual death, but about the surgical procedures which had taken place on the body of their loved one.

Although we had sight of the witness statements in advance, also be prepared that a witness may say something on the stand that you are not expecting.

The process was conducted in a kind and respectful way and it helped us put the pieces of our loved one's last few days together. I hope you find it helps you too.