Peter was born in 1954 in London, the youngest of four children following Richard, Karen and Mick. His older brother, Mick described to me how his Mum was stressed out when she found out Peter had Downs Syndrome, but his Dad smothered him with love and always said he’s going to be alright. Peter’s mother […]
Towards the end of last year I’d been working with a team from the BBC who were making a film about my Open Justice work. You can watch the end result here if you’re interested. One of the team connected me with Angela Marber. I’ve only known Angela for about 8 months, we’ve not yet […]
I’m going to try and keep this brief, a feat I rarely manage. Two weeks ago I had to travel from Devon to Kent to report on the third pre-inquest review hearing into the death of Sammy Alban-Stanley. I say I had to, I had applied to the court to attend via audio link and […]
Last week I had to make the trip to Kent to attend the final pre-inquest review hearing into the death of Samuel Alban-Stanley. You can read more about Sammy here and you can read more about Kent County Council seeking to refuse permission to disclose an internal audit report into Sammy’s death in the write […]
It’s been a long day today, I was up before dawn to travel to Kent for the third pre-inquest review hearing into the death of Samuel Alban-Stanley. Sammy was just 13 when he died last April, a few weeks into the first lockdown. You can read more about Sammy and what happened in this post […]
Long blog title, apologies, lots to say. I am going to try and keep this blog post brief*, because it’s a Bank Holiday Monday and I’m not sure there will be anyone around to read it, and I have limited emotional energy left in the bank for the detail of this. Before I go any […]
I’m raging. Absolutely raging (still) at how Kirsten Major, CEO of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust chose to respond to the media following the conclusion of the inquest into the death of Laura Booth. I wrote about it yesterday, you can read it here but please come back. This treatment of Laura’s parents, this giving […]
What a week. On Monday Assistant Coroner Abigail Combes delivered a blistering conclusion in Sheffield Coroner’s Court, into the death of Laura Jane Booth. Laura died in October 2016, but there was no inquest into the circumstances of Laura’s death. 18 months later an inquest was opened following the intervention of BBC Breakfast journalist Jayne […]
Laura was a much loved and longed for daughter who completed our family, when she died a part of us died with her. Laura loved people and people loved Laura. She communicated using Makaton, actions, gestures, a few words and considered use of blowing raspberries. Laura was very able to make decisions, and ensure her […]
I was in court this morning for the resumption of Rachel Johnston’s inquest. It was part heard as one of the witnesses suffered a bereavement and it was agreed that it would be resumed to hear remaining evidence which spoke to the Coroner’s responsibility to issue a Prevention of Future Deaths report if he had […]