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SECTION XII.
CORONERS' INQUESTS.
General.
1. The following extracts are taken from a consolidated circular issued to all Coroners on 31st October, 1923. Paragraph 6 in italics should be regarded as a substantive part of the present consolidated circular to Police. The paragraph is not intended to debar the Police from asking a Coroner to defer the issue of his order for burial in any case in which they have reason to think that a further examination of the body or an analysis of viscera is desirable in the interests of justice.
Cases of Suspected Poisoning.
2. If the interests of justice are involved that is to say, if there is any ground for suspecting felony and a possibility of a charge of murder or manslaughter, the Secretary of State will, on application being made to him by the Coroner, consider the propriety of authorizing one or other of the Home Office analysts to undertake a special analysis and to report the result to the Coroner. As it is necessary that the Secretary of State should confine his interference in such cases within narrow limits, Coroners should not make such an application except in cases where there is a reasonable ground for suspicion of murder or manslaughter, and should accompany the application by a full and precise statement of the grounds for such suspicion and of the reasons for thinking an analysis likely to promote the ends of justice. The application should contain a list of the articles or substances to be analysed and should state the time and place of the adjourned inquest, and the mode in which it is proposed to forward the material for analysis. Such applications are dealt with at the Home Office as speedily as possible.
3. Material submitted for analysis should be contained in carefully sealed and labelled receptacles and sent by a trustworthy hand, not to the Home Office, but direct to the analyst as soon as the Secretary of State's authority is received.
4. The Home Office Analysts are :—
J. Webster, Esq., F.I.C., St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London, W., and G. Roche Lynch, Esq., M.B., M.R.C.S., of the same address.
As soon as the Secretary of State's consent has been obtained, material for analysis should be sent to Mr. Webster at St. Mary's Hospital, unless another course is indicated.
5. The most suitable vessels to use are jars with ground glass stoppers; experience shows that the types most often required are either wide-mouthed and of capacity 2 litres or litre, or narrow- mouthed and of capacity 20 ozs.
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6. The Police have standing instructions that where it appears desirable in the interests of justice to obtain an analysis in connection with any death concerning which no inquest has yet been held, the Coroner should be consulted, as he has by law the custody and control of the body and has instructions as to the course to pursue. This should be done even when the material proposed to be analysed is not part of the body, as it is important that the Coroner should have control of all vessels, etc., the condition of which may throw light on the manner in which deceased came by his death.
Infanticide Act, 1922.
7. The Law Officers in conjunction with Sir Richard Muir have advised that —
(i) It is not proper for a Coroner's jury, when satisfied that the death of a newly-born child has been caused by a woman in the circumstances set out in Section 1 (1) of the Infanticide Act, 1922, to return a verdict of murder:
(ii) It is competent for a Coroner's jury in such circumstances
to find the verdict of "infanticide": and
(iii) It is competent for a Coroner, when a verdict of infanticide has been found against a woman, to proceed in accordance with Section 5 of the Coroners Act in the same way as if the verdict was manslaughter.
Inquests on Young Children.
8. Section 13 of the Children Act, 1908, provides that where the death of an infant is caused by over-lying and the person who was in bed with the infant was, at the time of going to bed, under the influence of drink, that person shall be deemed to have neglected the infant in a manner likely to cause injury to the infant within the meaning of the Act. Section 15 provides that any person over the age of 16 who, having the custody of a child under the age of 7, leaves it in any room where there is a fire, without taking reasonable precaution, will be liable to a fine if the child is killed or suffers serious injury from fire.
Places for Holding Inquests.
9. Under Section 21 of the Licensing Act, 1902, no Coroner's inquest shall be held on premises licensed for the sale of intoxicating liquors, if other suitable premises have been provided.
Attendance of Prisoners at Inquests.
10. Any prisoner should invariably be given the opportunity of attending an inquest and giving evidence, if there is a possibility of a verdict being found against him.
For this purpose, the date of the inquest should be notified as early as possible to the Governor of the prison, who will then make the necessary arrangements.
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