The head coroner, Matthews' story is that he knows nothing about anything. So he should not have had the job in the first place due to ignorance or, alternatively he is lying as part of the cover up. In the Rigg case evidence is 'not available' although it was alleged to be. Destroying evidence is a standard approach to Perverting the course of justice. A corrupt government does not like coroners, unless it has its own tame, hand picked, compliant place men. See Coroners And Justice for more and better details. Politicians loathe juries too because they cannot be manipulated so easily. Maggie Thatcher found this out when she tried to put Clive Ponting in prison for telling the truth about the Belgrano. I never quite saw why she was bothered. Argies attacked, Argies got sorted, public acclaim, lots votes but see Jury Law on the point.
INQUEST DELAYS from Private Eye 1271/28
Left in Limbo
BEREAVED families are having to wait years to find out how and why their loved ones died because of a lack of funding, resources and staff for inquests.Last week, at two pre-inquest reviews into deaths involving the Metropolitan police, including that of Ian Tomlinson, the newspaper seller who died at the London G20 protests over a year ago, it emerged that a shortage of coroners and available venues means it will be 2012 at the earliest before the inquests are heard.
Moreover, last week's two-page statement by City of London coroner Professor Paul Matthews (pictured) only partly answered criticism of his initial conduct of the inquest into the death of Mr Tomlinson. That investigation was fatally tainted the moment that Prof Matthews, a lawyer, academic and adviser on inquests, called in pathologist Dr Freddy Patel to carry out the autopsy. Dr Patel was already under investigation for flawed autopsies. Last month he was suspended by the General Medical Council (GMC).
Prof Matthews says he was unaware of proceedings against Dr Patel until May 2009, a month after he had called him in. He also says it wasn't until Sunday 5 April, two days after the autopsy which found coronary artery disease to be the cause of Mr Tomlinson's death, that he read reports suggesting that Mr Tomlinson had been assaulted by police. It was only then that he had reason to think the death might have been "violent or unnatural", by when it was too late.
The actions of the City of London police, who had asked for the post-mortem to be upgraded from routine to a special enhanced examination, should perhaps have put the coroner on his guard. Also, the Independent Police Complaints Commission had asked to be present, but it did not persuade him "there was any good reason for them to be present". Approaches from both the police and the IPCC should surely have prompted the coroner at least to inform the family of their right to have an independent expert present. But Prof Matthews does not deal with this criticism.
He also makes the point that the stress of being caught up in a demonstration may trigger a heart attack in someone suffering arterial disease, making the death unnatural. He does not seem to be aware that police "kettling" tactics during protests - where people are corralled and detained in streets for hours - were already the source of public concern. Delay in getting Mr Tomlinson medical assistance should surely also have been a factor in the coroner's thoughts.
Prof Matthews is now supporting the family', call for a judge to preside over the inquest - not because he admits to any failings, but because of his lack of expertise in criminal cases, and the wider implications of the case for police and policing.
Last week's other pre-inquest review revealed that the wait will be even longer - a minimum of four years - for the family of Sean Rigg, who died two years ago in mysterious and disturbing circumstances in a caged yard outside Brixton police station.
Mr Rigg had a long history of mental illness but lived happily in supported hostel accommodation. On the night he died, police and. it seems, staff from his mental health trust had refused several calls from the hostel asking that Sean be taken to a place of safety because he had become disturbed.
He walked out of the hostel and straight into trouble. Alerted to his conduct by a member of the public, officers restrained and arrested him for a public order offence and an alleged assault on an officer. They drove him to the yard where he was apparently left.
Exactly what happened to Sean is unknown.
There was no trace of drugs or alcohol in his blood and he was a physically fit 40-year-old. He had sustained a gash to his head and some bruising but not sufficient to be the cause of his death, which two pathologists were unable to identify. A report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which will not be made public until the inquest, is said to raise more questions than it answers about the actions of police officers that night.
Of particular concern to Sean's family is that video footage from two cameras is not available. The IPCC was told the cameras were not working, but the family was assured that they were.
Selena Lynch, the deputy coroner for Inner London south, who is conducting the inquest, was very apologetic about the delay. She said there were 16 other death-in-custody cases pending - and 400 families waiting for inquests in other deaths in the meantime. She added that the shortage of suitable venues and staff was a national problem that coroners had repeatedly raised with government.