A family have begun judicial review proceedings to replace a “combative and sarcastic” coroner they say is blocking a full inquest into how their autistic daughter died while in the care of an NHS-funded private care home. At that hearing they said he told them that only one of them could speak for just three minutes. When Colette’s father tried to persuade him there were broader issues to investigate, they said he told him: “We don’t need to investigate how the lorry got there.”After a complaint from the family, Pears refused to recuse himself. Months passed as submissions were collected and correspondence received from the coroner that the McCullochs’ lawyers described as “terse and sarcastic”. “We never wanted to do this,” McCulloch said, adding that he and his wife felt “the only way we can get a fair and fearless inquest – an open inquest – is by going to judicial review”.

Source: The Guardian May 10, 2018 04:52 UTC