Teenager who threatened suicide on road prosecuted for third time – The Guardian

‘A teenager with long-term mental health problems has been prosecuted three times in the last nine months after threatening suicide near busy roads.’

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The Guardian, 16th January 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Advert offering ‘life insurance to die for’ banned for trivialising suicide – Daily Telegraph

Posted December 12th, 2019 in advertising, complaints, insurance, internet, news, suicide by tracey

‘A Facebook advert for a company that sells “life insurance to die for” has been banned for trivialising suicide among young men.’

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Daily Telegraph, 11th December 2019

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Inquest concludes serious failures contributed to self-inflicted death of Beth Tenquist – Garden Court Chambers

Posted December 4th, 2019 in hospitals, inquests, mental health, news, suicide by sally

‘Following an Inquest lasting 10 days, a jury returned a damning narrative in respect of Sussex NHS Trust and Mill View Psychiatric Hospital, setting out a catalogue of failings by the Trust.’

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Garden Court Chambers, 27th November 2019

Source: www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk

Freed prisoners killing themselves at a rate of one every two days – The Guardian

Posted November 19th, 2019 in news, ombudsmen, probation, suicide, supervision orders by sally

‘The number of people who took their own life while on supervision after leaving prison has increased sixfold since 2010 to a rate of one every two days, fresh analysis seen by the Guardian shows.’

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The Guardian, 18th November 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Watchdog to investigate suicide monitoring of benefit claimants after ministers refuse to publish data – The Independent

Posted October 22nd, 2019 in benefits, mental health, news, suicide by tracey

‘A watchdog is to investigate the government’s monitoring of suicides among benefit claimants amid concerns about links between welfare reforms and declining mental health.
The National Audit Office (NAO) said it would call on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to reveal what information it held on the issue, after ministers refused to provide an MP with figures on the number of people in the welfare system who had taken their own lives.’

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The Independent, 21st October 2019

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Lottery winner jailed after using fake ticket to win £2.5 million jackpot – Crown Prosecution Service

‘A former builder who scooped a £2.5m jackpot using a fake lottery ticket has been convicted of fraud by false representation today and sentenced to nine years in prison.’

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Crown Prosecution Service, 4th October 2019

Source: www.cps.gov.uk

‘I struggled to do my mum justice at her inquest’ – BBC News

‘Every year, mental health trusts spend millions of pounds employing lawyers to represent them at inquests, where they could be found to be at fault. The relatives of those who have died, however, often get no legal aid and have to stand up and face those lawyers alone. Becky Montacute describes her bid to ensure that the lessons from her mother’s death were learned.’

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BBC News, 1st October 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Mavis Eccleston, 80, cleared of murdering husband was ‘hung, drawn and quartered’ by police, family say – Daily Telegraph

Posted September 23rd, 2019 in assisted suicide, bereavement, families, murder, news, police, suicide by sally

‘The family of an 80-year-old cleared of murdering her husband in a failed suicide pact claim she was “hung, drawn and quartered” by police who said they would make an example of her.’

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Daily Telegraph, 22nd September 2019

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Pensioner cleared of ‘mercy killing’ murder of terminally-ill husband – The Independent

Posted September 19th, 2019 in assisted suicide, elderly, married persons, murder, news, suicide by tracey

‘A pensioner has been cleared of the “mercy killing” murder of her terminally ill husband, who died after they both took an overdose last year.’

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The Independent, 18th September 2019

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Duty of care: inadequate safety nets? – No. 5 Chambers

Posted August 29th, 2019 in detention, duty of care, hospital orders, human rights, news, self-harm, suicide by sally

‘It was recently confirmed in Fernandes de Oliveira v Portugal [2019] ECHR 106 (no.78103/14, 31 January 2019) that a state’s positive obligation under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) applies not only to compulsorily detained patients, but also to those in hospital. However, there was a disappointing caveat. The European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) concluded that “a stricter standard of scrutiny” might be applied to patients detained “involuntarily” following judicial order (para.124). Indeed, no Article 2 violation was found. In a partly dissenting Minority Opinion (MO), Portugal’s Judge Pinto De Albuquerque and Judge Harutyunyan describe the decision scathingly as “the result of a creative exercise of judicial adjudication for an imagined country” (MO, para.16). This article analyses the case law the ECtHR failed to apply, contends that the decision is plainly wrong, and argues that no differentiation between voluntary and involuntary patients can be justified.’

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No. 5 Chambers, 6th August 2019

Source: www.no5.com

Inquest to consider state’s role in gambling addict’s suicide – The Guardian

Posted August 29th, 2019 in gambling, inquests, news, suicide by tracey

‘The government could be held liable for a gambling addict’s suicide after a coroner ruled that his inquest could consider whether the state failed in its duty to protect him.’

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The Guardian , 28th August 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Coroner urges Home Secretary to review domestic abuse laws after man bludgeons wife to death – Daily Telegraph

‘A man has been cleared of a criminal offence over a video that showed a model of a building marked “Grenfell Tower” being burned, while a group of friends laughed and joked.’

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Daily Telegraph, 22nd August 2019

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Deepcut inquests: Campaign ends for James Collinson hearing – BBC News

Posted July 26th, 2019 in armed forces, bereavement, families, inquests, news, suicide by tracey

‘The parents of a recruit shot dead at Deepcut Barracks 17 years ago have dropped their bid for a new inquest.’

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BBC News, 26th July 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Assault and self-harm hit record levels in jails in England and Wales – The Guardian

‘Assaults and incidents of self-harm in prisons in England and Wales have reached new highs, prompting fresh warnings that authorities are failing inmates.’

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The Guardian, 25th July 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Who was Carl Sargeant and what were the allegations against him? – The Guardian

‘Key questions answered as inquest into death of sacked Welsh minister concludes.’

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The Guardian, 11th July 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Father’s Day Revenge? Female perpetrated domestic abuse, homicide and suicide – Transparency Project

‘On the 17th of June 2018, a father made an anxious call to Kent Police after his ex-partner failed to return their child after a period of unsupervised contact which had been agreed by the family court. Very sadly, the following morning, the Police found the bodies of the missing little boy and his mother. A Serious Case Review into “Child H” was conducted and published in the last week by Kent Safeguarding Children’s Board.’

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Transparency Project, 6th July 2019

Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk

Prisoner release checks ‘put public at risk’ – chief inspector – BBC News

Posted July 10th, 2019 in health & safety, mental health, news, prisons, standards, statistics, suicide by sally

‘The safety of the public is being put at risk by thousands of prisoners being released without proper assessments, the government has been told.’

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BBC News, 9th July 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Jury finds failure to adequately assess risk of self harm and suicide contributed to death of Rocky Stenning at HMP Chelmsford – Garden Court Chambers

Posted July 5th, 2019 in death in custody, inquests, news, prisons, self-harm, suicide by sally

‘The jury returned a narrative conclusion at the inquest into the death of Rocky Stenning, finding that the failure to adequately assess his risk of self harm and suicide whilst he was at HMP Chelmsford contributed to his death. They also noted that restricting Rocky’s access to a telephone, the length of the prison sentence he received and other known triggers as identified in the Ministry of Justice’s suicide and self-harm policy, affected Rocky’s mental ill health.’

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Garden Court Chambers, 3rd July 2019

Source: www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk

Jury returns damning conclusion at inquest of Andrew Brown at HMP Nottingham – Garden Court Chambers

Posted July 4th, 2019 in health & safety, inquests, juries, mental health, news, prisons, standards, suicide by sally

‘The inquest into the death of Andrew Brown has concluded on 26 June with the jury finding that a series of damning failings by HMP Nottingham contributed to his death.’

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Garden Court Chambers, 27th June 2019

Source: www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk

Seeking a secret inquest? A lesson in how NOT to go about asking for reporting restrictions – UK Human Rights Blog

‘When seeking any order it always helps to make the right application, to the right court, following the right procedure. Although when it does go horribly wrong it at least provides valuable learning for the rest of us.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 1st July 2019

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com