Coroner calls for inquest change

Many inquests can take several months to be heard

A senior coroner has called for new legislation to make sure inquests are held within a year of a person's death.

Aidan Cotter, coroner for Birmingham and Solihull, told the BBC bereaved families were being denied closure.

This, he said, was because the hearings could not be held until other investigations had been carried out.

Mr Cotter also blamed lawyers for dragging out cases, and claimed some even withheld crucial information to protect their clients' interests.

His comments come after a recent inquest into the death of a baby boy, which did not take place until nine years after he died.

The government has also been criticised over a backlog of inquests into the deaths of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, with some families waiting years to see matters resolved.

Bureaucracy

Mr Cotter told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Closure is what it is all about.

"People talk about this being a compensation culture. In my experience, when somebody loses a loved one they do not think, 'Good-oh, I'm going to get some money.'

"They feel grief for their loved one and they want to know how he or she came by their death."

Mr Cotter said he was seeing a growing number of cases taking two or three years to come to inquest, because of bureaucracy.

Cases involving local government, hospitals, health authorities were particularly bad, he said, because lots of lawyers tended to be involved because of fears about potential litigation.

The purpose of an inquest is to find out what happened. It isn't to blame, it isn't to exonerate from blame Aidan Cotter, Coroner for Birmingham and Solihull

But the coroner also said some lawyers were withholding information from inquests, slowing them down greatly.

"What I object is when they don't come to find out the truth," he said.

"They come knowing that they have experts' reports in their briefcases which have relevant information, but because it doesn't suit their interpretation of the facts they refuse to disclose it to the court.

"To my mind that is all wrong. The purpose of an inquest is to find out what happened. It isn't to blame, it isn't to exonerate from blame. It is simply to find out what happened so families can have closure."

Permission to delay

Inquests are often delayed because the deaths involved are the focus of criminal cases.

But Mr Cotter added he wanted the law to be changed so all inquests happened within a year of someone's death, unless the police or other investigators had obtained permission from the High Court for a delay.

Figures from the Ministry of Justice show that the average length of time between someone's death being reported and their inquest being held is getting longer.

That figure currently stands at nearly six months. However, BBC correspondent Phil Mackie said cases which took four or five times as long were becoming increasingly common.

The introduction of legislation setting out reforms to the inquest system has been delayed.

In November, the Coroners Bill, which would have included more rights for people to appeal against coroners' decisions, was dropped from the Queen's Speech programme.

In May, the government once again announced plans to introduce the bill, and the legislation is due to come into force next year in England and Wales.