Fresh Inquest into the Death of Jodey Whiting Concludes

The second inquest into the death of Jodey Whiting has concluded. The Senior Coroner for Teesside and Hartlepool, Clare Bailey, concluded that Ms Whiting took her own life following the wrongful withdrawal of her state benefits which precipitated a significant deterioration in her mental state.

Ms Whiting’s mother, Joy Dove, applied under s.13 of the Coroners Act 1988 for a fresh inquest into her daughter’s death. The application was initially rejected by the Divisional Court but was allowed by the Court of Appeal (Dove v HM Assistant Coroner for Teesside and Hartlepool [2023] EWCA Civ 289). 

The Court of Appeal’s decision made clear that:

• the discretion as to an inquest’s scope remains with the coroner.
• whilst the touchstone of causation is important, when setting their investigation’s scope, it is still for the coroner to decide what ‘by what means’ actually means for each inquest.
• when addressing the ‘how’ question a coroner may, and in some cases should, in the exercise of their discretion, go beyond a bare determination of the mechanism of death. A more detailed exploration of causation may be required to meet the interests of justice.
• causation in the context of an inquest means making a material (i.e., more than trivial) contribution, of which there must be evidence.  The subjective opinion of the family is not evidence and will not suffice without more. 
• where it is said that the state of mind of someone who killed themselves was contributed to by their partner’s infidelity, the interests of justice are not likely to require the affairs of individuals to be investigated in public at an inquest.  However, where the shortcomings of a public body are said to have contributed to a deterioration in mental health, it is harder to see why a coroner would exercise their discretion so as to ignore this factor.
• even where Art 2 is not engaged, the bereaved family and the public have a legitimate interest in knowing how public bodies’ actions impact on citizens’ mental health.

Bronia Hartley is part of the Inquests Team at Parklane Plowden. Bronia’s profile can be accessed here.