Where somebody was murdered if the community could not produce the murderer, whose own goods were then forfeit to pay the death dues, then the deceased’s family had to pay it. And it, because it came out of, as a suicide in, in the inquest it sort of like finished everything off of, rather than having another thought to, “Why’s it this? Royds Withy King is the trading name of Royds Withy King LLP Would you like to say a little bit more about the inquest? Amanda took her sister with her. Legal Policy What happens if I am called to be Witness at an Inquest? As opposed to the feeling, and I have checked with my husband several times, was I making a meal out ... a mountain out of it. However, in some cases a 'fatal accident inquiry' is held. Yes, if the coroner agrees there are reasonable grounds. RADIO & TV form, call us on 0151 724 7121. At the end of a Court hearing of all of the evidence at an Inquest the Coroner (or the jury) will record a verdict. A coroner must hold an inquest if it was not possible to find the cause of death from the post-mortem examination if the death is found to be sudden, occurred in prison, police custody or in hospital, or if the coroner thinks there are grounds for further investigation. I know how difficult this is but I do just need to ask A, B and C”. Two people in Scotland had been told that a fatal accident inquiry was not needed, and one woman was waiting to see if an inquiry would take place. Inquests are held in public so as well as the person representing you, you can take someone for support if you think it would be helpful. There was, he was certainly no help to us as a bereaved family. I did not particularly like the police force but these are simply personal responses to people who by their own standards were doing the proper job which the law required of them. We were in a rented flat and I had to make the decision was I going to stay in the flat, was I going to buy somewhere to live or; I needed a holiday and friends were saying, “Oh come and stay with us.” So, …. So you just have to have the coroner there? She didn’t stand up and give a statement, but she’d given a written statement. If the coroner calls you as a formal witness or an “interested person”, you’ll need to provide a more formal witness statement and you may need to answer questions from the coroner or in front of the sheriff when the hearing takes place. But again the inquest was very difficult, we just sat sobbing all the way through it, I think. He’d ask me a question and then turned his back on me and walked away, obviously not wanting to hear the answer. He was wonderful in that. And also on the Monday we had a phone call from the Coroner’s Officer. An inquest is a hearing for the purpose of determining the amount of damages due on a claim. If the Coroner is then of the view that an Inquest is required, an Inquest will take place as soon as the opportunity to set a date for hearing for the Inquest. An Inquest is held when someone has died in certain specific circumstances. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. So that was suspicious because. So none of that information was given to you, you didn’t meet the coroner’s officer first or anything? You don’t have to remember everything. Normally you can if you are a close relative and/or you feel you might have something relevant about the deceased’s cause of death or simply to confirm personal details about the deceased. But, I mean, he was just going on this like I was almost, and I suddenly thought, “Do you know what? A jury is there to determine the facts of the case as opposed to the function of a Coroner who will decide upon matters of law. Melanie experienced what she called a “documentary” inquest after her husband died [see Interview 21 above]. The next time he phoned he would recap on both those things and then ask me what else he wanted to know. What Are Your Fatal Accident Claim Options? Persons obliged to report death to the Coroner include the following: Unless that person has reasonable grounds for believing that the death has already been reported to the Coroner by another person specified in the list above. …and then the coroner’s court, Oh, the coroner’s court that was awful. I remember at one point he stopped, and he said, “So you had three boys?” And he, he paused and it was as though he was putting us all in context, as though we weren’t just facts we were a real family. Please fill out the form below and we will call you back within 24 hours. That deposition can either be prepared in writing by you or with the assistance of the Gardai. No, so the Coroner’s Officer was really goo. If there is any doubt in the matter, the better course of action is for the Coroner to so direct. He or she may look at the written statements from people involved, such as the doctors, the pathologist, family and friends, and then come to a verdict. There will always be an inquest hearing with a jury sitting. And that was all, all the involvement he had really. So quite an insensitive person really. DUBLIN: 01 878 2792 The job of the coroner or sheriff is to determine how, where and when the person died. The “how” includes not only the medical cause of death but all the circumstances leading to the death. Accident or misadventure 3. Anyone can attend an inquest hearing. In the case of some deaths an inquest is legally required. So I read out the statement and I had said beforehand, “When I go up I don’t want to swear on the Bible”, because to me that would be very insincere, because I really do think so many people base their lives on a book, and forget what it’s all about. You register the death. The purpose of the inquest or (in Scotland) the fatal accident inquiry is to assess the circumstances surrounding the death and to identify any issues of public concern or safety. And I set out to be different with my son, but he said to me, “What’s wrong with you, you’re fine the way you are.”. This gives investigative powers to the Coroner’s Court in relation to determining how a death occurred. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Enquires into the cause of death are usually arranged and concluded within 3 – 6 months. If you’re a witness, you may be referred to the RCN’s statement checking team for support. Once notified of a death, the Coroner will ask the investigating member of the Gardai for all details relating to the Deceased including all of their personal details and full and detailed circumstances surrounding the death including the name of the registered medical practitioner who pronounced death and the name of any medical practitioner who may be in a position to offer a Medical Certificate of the cause of death. Others had decided not to attend. Frankie Murphy Inquest Liverpool 26.06.19. Any death which may be as a result of an unconventional medical procedure or treatment. Any death which occurs in custody or in prison will always be referred to a coroner. The coroner is in charge of it. Once the procurator fiscal has all the necessary information, he or she sends a report to the headquarters of the Procurator Fiscal Service. Narrative, which enables the coroner to describe briefly the circumstances by which the death came about 5. The written deposition is then submitted to the Coroners Court. It is usually very helpful that a Solicitor is present at the inquest if there is a possibility that a subsequent claim for compensation or legal action is to be made. The record of verdict can be applied for by the next of kin of the Deceased or their legal representatives but it is  a document of public record and is available to anybody who makes the appropriate application to the Coroners Office. And you’ll be trundling along and everything’ll be fine and then suddenly something will happen, whether you’re having a bad day or whatever it is, and you’ll be sobs of tears or …. He didn’t really contact us. You could be called as a witness if you were on shift when the person died. Remember, this is a Court, and the strict formal rules of evidence apply. He would then tell me his name and who he was so that I knew who I was talking to. In Scotland, the equivalent process is a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) held in front of a sheriff. It’s very austere. But I and I had thought it was going to be quite a sympathetic affair because it was so obvious what had happened. This may be called a “chamber’s finding”, a “documentary” inquest or a “paper” inquest. At the inquest, the plaintiff must prove the allegations made in the complaint to the satisfaction of the Judge. At the inquest I had my best friend, my friend who’s a doctor, my husband, Lori’s girlfriend, who I held, who somebody sat with and held her hand, her mother was there, I think that’s about all but it’s kind of important to take along people that would support you. He needs to know about police interviews and statements that they take. At an inquest, only the plaintiff is present because the defendant has failed to answer or appear in the action. The Coroner’s Court occupies a “unique” position in Irish law. But of course I suppose naively I thought well they know she committed suicide so why are they being so hard on me. Please keep in mind that comments are moderated and please do not use a spammy keyword or a domain as your name or it will be deleted. Some Inquests will, of course, be more lengthy and complicated than others. But it, it took me a while to do it when I did get around to writing it. And so I said, “No I wouldn’t, that is nothing to do with anyone but her and her boyfriend.” And I said, “And it’s not for me to …” and t. People bereaved by suicide may see the inquest as an important opportunity to find out what happened to their friend or relative and to publicly state their version of events. He was lovely. Some inquests may look at the circumstances surrounding the death of health care workers who had COVID-19. What are the steps a Coroner takes once notified of a death? I can’t say his name. It was obvious. • the death was caused by an occurrence that needs to be reported to a Government department; Susan said she was quite shocked when she had to take the witness-stand because having seen the interim death certificate she thought that the cause of death had already been established. It, there were like questions, just questions for the sake of asking them. If there is a dispute about the facts, the narrative can include the jury or coroner’s decision on those facts, and any ‘failings’ which caused or contributed to the death should be recorded. It was amazing the information that came out. It must be emphasised that the Coroner has legal possession of the body and has a statutory duty to enquire fully into all of the circumstances of certain deaths. I know there’s been a recent commission on it. GALWAY: 091 865 000, MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE This can be especially important for family and friends of the deceased, who want to see that lessons have been learned from their loved one’s death. It was, when, when you say inquest it, it sounds like it’s quite a daunting thing. The last people to see him their, their statements were read out so it’s quite a lot of statements and I remember I was sitting on the edge of my seat listening to every word at the time ‘cause I was frightened of missing it, so I suppose knowing that you’re going have a recording could be useful because then you, you wouldn’t feel like you’re trying to listen to, so intently to absolutely everything. The inquest was extremely unpleasant. BOYLE: 071 966 2019 The doctor gave all the details and I, I wanted to know, the statements are read out, and that’s quite hard because you’re hearing about the last moments and for us, because he was still alive, to hear the woman’s story who was with him, that was, hard, but I had met her, what is very important for me, it was very important for her she came and met us, what a couple of days after he’d died and she really wanted to hug me, she wanted to know if I wanted the coat she’d covered him up in, which I didn’t Iit was, for some reasonbut that was very important that link.