- Posted in Police Blog
You may remember me posting at the end of last year about a High Court judgment ordering a new inquest after the death of Sally Mays in Hull in 2014? The written judgment
It taught me even more detail than I knew before about the particular circumstances leading to Sally attending the Miranda Unit in Hull and detail matters, in the end.
It explains why a new inquest is both necessary and lawfully required, despite the fact there is no criticism about the Senior Coroner’s handling of the original inquest and because the new inquest will not substantially alter the previous finding that Sally’s care was “lamentable”.
The legal claim is around the existence of information which was deliberately withheld / not disclosed to the original inquest and which, despite it all still pushing in the direction of lamentable care, seems to raise the possibility that new facts could be found about further opportunities to intervene before Sally’s death and which have the potential to reinforce the learning that is necessary for state agencies to properly discharge their Article 2 responsibilities. Sally’s inquest was, quite properly in the view of the High Court, an Article 2 inquest and the unanimous judgment states that by not examining this relevant material, the state has not discharged its responsibilities under Article 2, to Sally or to her family. There will not be complete re-running of the inquest – the old proceedings will be admitted as evidence and the new inquest will just focus on the new material which should have been available for consideration in the first instance.
Angela Mays has asked if I would be assist in spreading this judgment far and wide and of course, I’m happy to oblige. To save repetition, I point you to various materials more important and relevant than this post —
In addition, it is worth nothing since my previous post, that one of the Crisis Team nurses involved in assessment at the Miranda Unit prior to Sally’s death has now been struck from the nursing register during a professional conduct hearing.
Sally Mays died 8yrs ago and would have turned 30 just last week – a milestone birthday that must hit home. Taken together with legal hearings for new inquests, professional conduct hearings for staff involved and the ongoing nightmare of living after the premature death of one’s daughter in any circumstances, I just want to wish Angela and Andy Mays and their son Ben, the very best as they continue to battle for justice.
You can read much more detail about all of this on the Justice for Sally
Winner of the President’s Medal , the Royal College of Psychiatrists .
Winner of the Mind Digital Media Award
All views expressed are my own – they do not represent the views of any organisation.
I try to keep this blog up to date, but inevitably over time, amendments to the law as well as court rulings and other findings from inquests and complaints processes mean it is difficult to ensure all the articles and pages remain current. Please ensure you check all legal issues in particular and take appropriate professional advice where necessary.
Government legislation website – www.legislation.gov.uk
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