R (Henshaw) v Assistant Coroner for Derby and Derbyshire [2025] EWHC 357 (Admin), 20 Feb 2025, judgment here
As is often said, ‘when things go bad, they arrive in threes’. And when three things do arise you really wouldn’t want them to be in a case which was already (as Mr Justice Jay remarked) “…a difficult case that would have challenged even the most experienced of coroners”:
However the bad tidings for the Assistant Coroner in these Judicial Review proceedings might helpfully allow other coroners to learn how:
- Not to direct a jury that they must first consider returning a traditional short form conclusion before returning any narrative;
- Not to overlook the decsion in Tainton[1] when dealing with admitted failings; and that
- If you do refuse to call a witness, make sure it is for the right reason.
What inquest lawyers should also note is that the approach of the High Court to re-running a complex inquest is grounded in pragmatism. Even if three things do go wrong, one does not always a need to hold a fresh inquest to put them right. Here the jury directions had been unclear and the Claimant achieved a declaration validating two of her other complaints, but none of these slip-ups were significant enough to require the original inquest to be quashed.