Retired Coroner : Sudden & Violent Death

Our speaker today was David Hinchcliffe who gave us a talk called Sudden & Violent Death. David is a retired coroner and chairman of Holmfirth probus Club. He explained that he knows our current chairman Graham Smith through heading the inquest into the death of serial killer Harold Shipman who died in Wakefield prison when Graham was governor there and also being a member of Honley Male voice choir. The word Coroner comes from the latin word corona meaning crown, and dates back to the 11th century where he was originally called a crowner, who’s job was to look after the finances of the king. A coroner now is an independent judicial officer responsible for investigating deaths that are sudden, violent, unnatural, or while a person is in prison.

David explained that a coroners role is to find out.

1. Who the deceased was

2. Where the death occurred

3. When the death took place

4. How (by what means) the person died

David’s area covered 6 prisons and a teaching hospital so was kept very busy requesting medical records and witness statements, ordering a post mortem examination to determine the cause of death and to open an inquest if the cause of death is unknown or if the death happens in prison.