Inquests in England and Wales are held into sudden or unexplained deaths and also into the circumstances of and discovery of a certain class of valuable artefacts known as "treasure trove". In England and Wales, inquests are the responsibility of a coroner, who operates under the jurisdiction of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. In some circumstances where an inquest cannot view or hear all the evidence, it may be suspended and a public inquiry held with the consent of the Home Secretary.
Mold health issues refer to the harmful health effects of moulds and their mycotoxins. However, recent research has shown these adverse health effects are caused not exclusively by molds, but also other microbial agents and biotoxins associated with dampness, mold, and water-damaged buildings, such as gram-negative bacteria that produce endotoxins, as well as actinomycetes and their associated exotoxins. Approximately 47% of houses in the United States have substantial levels of mold, with over 85% of commercial and office buildings found to have water damage predictive of mold. As many as 21% of asthma cases may result from exposure to mold. Substantial and statistically significant increases in the risks of both respiratory infections and bronchitis have been associated with dampness in homes and the resulting mold.
A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within the coroner's jurisdiction.
Aboriginal deaths in custody is a political and social issue in Australia. It rose in prominence in the early 1980s, with Aboriginal activists campaigning following the death of 16-year-old John Peter Pat in 1983. Subsequent deaths in custody, considered suspicious by families of the deceased, culminated in the 1987 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC).
An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a coroner or medical examiner. Generally, inquests are conducted only when deaths are sudden or unexplained. An inquest may be called at the behest of a coroner, judge, prosecutor, or, in some jurisdictions, upon a formal request from the public. A coroner's jury may be convened to assist in this type of proceeding. Inquest can also mean such a jury and the result of such an investigation. In general usage, inquest is also used to mean any investigation or inquiry.
Paul Burrell is a former servant of the British Royal Household and latterly butler to Diana, Princess of Wales.
The Camelford water pollution incident involved the accidental contamination of the drinking water supply to the town of Camelford, Cornwall, in July 1988. Twenty tonnes of aluminium sulphate was inadvertently added to the water supply, raising the concentration to 3,000 times the admissible level. As the aluminium sulphate broke down it produced several tonnes of sulphuric acid which "stripped a cocktail of chemicals from the pipe networks as well as lead and copper piping in people's homes." Many people who came into contact with the contaminated water experienced a range of short-term health effects, and many victims suffered long-term effects whose implications remained unclear as of 2012. There has been no rigorous examination or monitoring of the health of the victims since the incident, which is Britain's worst mass poisoning event. Inquests on people who died many years later found very high levels of aluminium in the brain. Dame Barbara Clayton led a Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution enquiry into the incident.
The Ashley Smith inquest was an Ontario coroner's inquest into the death of Ashley Smith, a teenager who died by self-inflicted strangulation on 19 October 2007 while under suicide watch in custody at the Grand Valley Institution for Women. Despite guards watching her on video monitors, Smith was able to strangle herself with a strip of cloth, and it was 45 minutes before guards or supervisors entered her cell and confirmed her death. The warden and deputy warden were fired after the incident; although the four guards and supervisors in immediate contact with Smith were initially charged with negligent homicide, those charges were withdrawn a year later. Smith's family brought a lawsuit against the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) for negligence; this lawsuit was settled out of court in May 2011.
In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinction is made between the cause of death, which is a specific disease or injury, versus manner of death, which is primarily a legal determination versus the mechanism of death which does not explain why the person died or the underlying cause of death and can include cardiac arrest or exsanguination. Different categories are used in different jurisdictions, but manner of death determinations include everything from very broad categories like "natural" and "homicide" to specific manners like "traffic accident" or "gunshot wound". In some cases an autopsy is performed, either due to general legal requirements, because the medical cause of death is uncertain, upon the request of family members or guardians, or because the circumstances of death were suspicious.
Sir David Behan is a British public servant who was previously the Chair of Health Education England. Following the merger of Health Education England into NHS England, Behan, now serves as a Group Non-executive Director and Chairs the Workforce, Training & Education Committee.
Inquest Charitable Trust is a charity concerned with state related deaths in England and Wales. It was founded in 1981. Inquest provides support on state-related deaths, including deaths in custody and their investigation, to bereaved people, lawyers, advice and support agencies, the media and parliamentarians. Their policy, parliamentary, campaigning and media work is grounded in the day-to-day experience of working with bereaved people.
Eleanor Poppy Miranda de Freitas was an English woman who committed suicide three days before the commencement of her trial for perverting the course of justice for allegedly making a false accusation of rape. Her death prompted a debate over whether prosecuting people accused of making a false accusation of rape could deter rape victims from reporting the crime, as well as whether it was appropriate to prosecute vulnerable individuals.
Christopher Mark Clarkson is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Heywood & Middleton since the 2019 general election. Prior to entering Parliament, Clarkson was a Salford City Councilor for Worsley.
Shukri Yahye-Abdi drowned in the River Irwell, England, on 27 June 2019. Aged 12, she was a refugee from Somalia who had lived in a refugee camp in Kenya until moving to England in 2017. She was with pupils from her school, Broad Oak High School, at the time of her death. Subsequent to her death, police reported there were no suspicious circumstances; however, Abdi's mother reported conflicting information and said that she had been complaining to her daughter's school about incidents of bullying for over a year.
Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah is a British grassroots campaigner who raises awareness of asthma and the health problems that can be caused by air pollution. Her work followed the death of her nine-year-old daughter, Ella Roberta Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, which was eventually attributed to excessive air pollution from London's South Circular Road.
Archie Battersbee, a British boy, was the subject of several court hearings between April and August 2022, regarding whether or not to withdraw his life support, after he was found unconscious and subsequently considered to have suffered brainstem death. The courts ruled in favour of Barts Health NHS Trust, and against his parents, and allowed his life support to be withdrawn.
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) is a social housing provider established in 2012 to receive the transfer of housing stock from Rochdale Borough Council in Greater Manchester, England. It has a subsidiary, RBH Limited. It owns and manages about 12,700 properties. In March 2020, it employed 545 full time equivalent staff.
The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which introduced new measures to improve the standards, safety and operation of social housing. The bill was introduced in the House of Lords on 8 June 2022 and received royal assent on 20 July 2023.
Gaia Pope, also known as Gaia Kima Pope-Sutherland,, was a British teenager who went missing in November 2017, aged 19. Her body was found 11 days later.
Events of the year 2024 in England.
