Inquests

3PB has a dedicated team specialising in representing bereaved families, individuals, statutory bodies and corporate entities at coroners inquests. The team draws on experience gathered from many different areas, such as personal injury, health and safety, clinical negligence, public law, prisons, police and military cases and road traffic accidents.

Our barristers advise at all stages of the inquest process, including issues of disclosure, pre-inquest reviews and advocacy at the inquest, in inquests with and without a jury. We are also regularly instructed to review, following inquests, and advise bereaved families and dependents on subsequent stages of civil litigation or criminal proceedings that can often follow – therefore representing interested persons and coroners in the most complex of cases as well as others. Our specialist counsel are all levels of seniority so we have the breadth of experience to suit every client’s needs and budget.

3PB are a leading personal injury chambers and advise on industrial disease cases and fatal workplace accidents. Many industrial disease claims start out as Inquests and we are able to provide expert advocacy from an early stage, to ensure that necessary facts are brought to light which will form the foundation of future fatal accident claims.

We provide representation to families of the deceased and also have over  50 years experience acting for GPs and other clinical practitioners, NHS bodies, private health care and care home providers, insurance companies and self-insured businesses,  government departments (including the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence), the police and prison service and individual officers,  private prison contractors, local authorities and Coroners. Areas of expertise encompass:

• Medical deaths, including alleged surgical, nursing, obstetric and anaesthetic failures
• Homicides
• Terrorist-related deaths
• Deaths in custody
• Military deaths
• Construction site accidents
• Fire and electrical safety
• Carbon monoxide poisoning,
• Deaths in schools and nurseries
• Road traffic accidents and police pursuits.

Notable cases include:

• 8 day jury inquest into death of undercover policeman in Southampton. Public interest immunity regarding the operation the police were conducting at the time of the fatal accident
• 5 day Art 2 inquest involving a prisoner suicide with alleged early closure of ACCT, safeguarding and mental health issues
• 7 day jury inquest into death of prisoner at HMP Pentonville who ingested drugs and included investigation into prisoner restraint
• Multiple mesothelioma/asbestosis-related inquests
• Representing parents and families at Inquests following high profile deaths of children in hospitals and  psychiatric wards
• Representing the NHS and London Ambulance Service (LAS) in a number of cases about quality of emergency care, treatment in hospitals, and delays by paramedics
• Inquest on the death of a marathon runner who died of an ischaemic bowel through dehydration following taking superosmolar sports supplements and ibuprofen.

Inquests conducted in other contexts are often more appropriately dealt with by practitioners from the Public and Regulatory. Details of these specialists can be found here.

Sunyana Sharma and Susan Jones gave a seminar in September 2020 covering the engagement and impact of Article 2 on inquests. View a recording here:

The group's practice management team can be reached here.