EWJ June 61 2025 web - Flipbook - Page 25
The judge did not believe it would be possible to
obtain reliable evidence that would enable the Coroner to be satisfied on the balance of probabilities that
Mr McMahon would have been in custody on the date
of Linda's death had he been arrested earlier. It followed that any failure to arrest him prior to that date
could not be proved to have contributed more than
minimally, negligibly or trivially to the death. In the
absence of this causative link, the proposed investigation into the actions or omissions of the police was
found by the Court to be irrelevant, because it could
not be proved on the balance of probabilities that
anything done or not done by police officers at the
time of the reported domestic violence incident or
subsequently more than minimally, negligibly or
trivially contributed to Linda's death.
deceased's family is outside the scope of an inquest.
However, where the link between a particular
event/incident and the death is felt to be merely 'speculative', this may be a useful case to draw to the attention of the Coroner when making submissions about
what should or should not fall within scope.
The High Court's decision in this case may, however,
not be the final word here because we understand that
an application has been made for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal. There is accordingly an
element of 'watch this space' on this and we will
continue to keep you updated.
How we can help
Our large national team of inquest lawyers have a
wealth of experience in supporting providers and individuals across the health and social care sector
through the inquest process - from relatively straightforward hospital deaths to very complex Article 2/jury
inquest cases involving multiple parties and deaths in
state detention, including providing representation at
pre-inquest review hearings when matters such as
inquest scope are decided.
The High Court also took the opportunity to
highlight what the Court of Appeal said in the case of
Morahan about inquests being an "inquisitorial and relatively summary process" and "not a surrogate public inquiry",
concluding that a decision to limit the scope of the enquiry to avoid an expensive and time-consuming investigation into the acts or omissions of the police was
consistent with the purpose of an inquest and could
not be said to be irrational.
www.dacbeachcroft.com
Authors
Gill Weatherill
Partner, Newcastle
Will Pickles
Senior Associate, Bristol
Claire Anderson
Senior Associate, Southampton
Practical impact and what next?
The reality is that Coroners have a wide discretion to
decide on the scope of an inquest and delving into the
intricacies of the law on coronial causation may not always be enough to persuade a Coroner that a particular event/conduct which is of concern to the
EXPERT WITNESS JOURNAL
23
JUNE 2025
