Second report of the Departmental Committee appointed to inquire into the law relating to coroners and coroners' inquests, and into the practice in coroners' courts.

  • Great Britain. Committee on Coroners.
Date:
1909
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Second report of the Departmental Committee appointed to inquire into the law relating to coroners and coroners' inquests, and into the practice in coroners' courts. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    8 June 1909.] [ Continued. East Dorset, to take my inquest, but this has only happened twice or thrice in the past 25 years. 6721. Is that legalP—I do not know that it is legal, but we do it; and if he is away I take an inquest for him. This, however, very seldom happens. 6722. A neighbouring coroner does the duty whether it is legal or not?—Yes; if I am away he takes an inquest for me, and if he is away I take an inquest for him. 6723. Are you his deputy P—No. and I am not his deputy. 6724. You do not know then whether it is legal on your part when you act for him?—I donot. I have done it for years, but only, I think, on two or three occasions. 6725. Have you ever had any serious case of com- mittal to the assizes ?—Yes, on one occasion, on the occasion of a railway accident. 6726. What was the charge ?—The committal was on a charge of manslaughter against the engine-driver. 6727. Was there a conviction?—No, the judge dismissed the case. 6728. Why was there no conviction ?—Because the judge dismissed the case; he thought there was no really criminal negligence. 6729. Do you know how many inhabitants there are in your district P—I could hardly tell you. 6730. About how many ?—I should say 13,000 or 14,000. The town of Wimborne is the only town in the district ; the rest is quite scattered villages. 6731. Do you ever dispense with an inquest P—Yes, whenever I can I give a certificate. In a case of sudden death, if it is proved to me by a medical man that it is not a case of accident, I give a certificate. 6732. What did you say your salary was P—Twenty pounds a year. 6733. No matter how many inquests you hold or how few ?—It makes no difference whatever. It is a fixed salary. 6734. How long have you had a fixed salary ?—It was raised about ten years since, by reason of the increase of the town of Bournemouth overlapping into my district in Dorset. I represented that the number of inquests was increasing considerably, and the county council considered the matter and increased my salary by 51., making it 201. 6735. Who pays your disbursements ?—The county council. I send in a statement quarterly, and they give me a cheque for my payments out of pocket, for which I produce vouchers. 6736. I take it, you are not coroner for any other place than the Hundreds you have described P—I am not. 6737. And in your 26 years’ experience you have only had one committal case P—Yes. 6738. Was that to the Dorset assizes P—Yes, at Dorchester. 6739. Is all your district in one county P—Yes, it is wholly in Dorset. 6740. But there are places interspersed through your district in which separate coroners have jurisdic- tion ?—Yes, as I mentioned just now. 6741. What places have separate coroners P—There is a Liberty almost adjoining the town of Wimborne, the Liberty of Cranborne. 6742. That has a separate coroner >—Yes. 6743, A franchise coroner ?—Yes; he lives at Ring- wood, and part of his district dovetails into mine, the parish of Ham Preston. 6744. Do you have to go through other people's districts to get to parts of yours ?—Yes, between Wimborne and Blandford. I take the parish of Sturminster Marshall; beyond that is the parish of Spettisbury, which is in the district of the county coroner; and then beyond that again is Charlton Marshall, in ‘my district; and I g/ through the county coroner’s district to get to my own district. 6745. You have many ramifications ?—Yes. I have given you those two; I could give you others—Crichel, Lord Alington’s place, that is really in my district ; this is More Crichel, the residence of Lord Alington; and then at Long Crichel the county coroner steps in. Then I overstep him again, and get to Gussage St. Michel; Ihave no deputy, but Gussage All Saints, the neighbouring parish, is in the county coroner’s district. 6746, It must be a Chinese puzzle sometimes to know in whose district it is?—Yes, it is sometimes, For instance, a person may die in the road and be taken into the county coroner's district; the policeman comes in and says that the man has died at such and such a place. JI ask where the body is, and he says it is taken to a cottage in the next parish; that is in another coroner’s district. 6747. What do you do in such a case P—Once or twice we have made blunders. 6748. Do you remove the body back again, or does the coroner for that parish hold the inquest P—The coroner for the parish where the person dies holds the inquest although the body is taken into another coroner’s district. 6749. Have you any boroughs in your district P— There is the borough of, Poole. 6750. Then your district surrounds the borough of Poole ?—It adjoins it. 6751. And nearly surrounds it except on the water- side >—Yes; on the land side it does wholly, I may say, surround the borough of Poole, except where it adjoins the county of Hants. 6752. (Dr. Willcox.) Do you have a coroner’s officer for making inquiries ?—The police, the superintendent of police always. 6753. In what proportion, roughly, of inquests that you hold do you have a post-mortem examination P— It is very seldom that I have a post-mortem. 6754, Even where you hold an inquest —Not very often, because the cause of death is generally so very plain. When I have any doubt whatever, I order a doctor to make a post-mortem and report at.the inquest to the jury; but not very often. 6755. As a rule you have no post-mortem ?—That is so. 6756. In most of your cases do you get medical evidence ?—Yes. 6757. Would you be satisfied with the evidence of relatives P—I call in a medical man and he gives me his evidence, and if necessary I order a post-mortem; but in ordering a post-mortem I generally see him before- hand and hear what he has to say, and if I do not think the evidence he can give will satisfy the jury I say, “You must make a port-mortem and give me a report “ of the post-mortem.”’ 6758. Supposing that a dead body is found in the water P—Too often the verdict is “found drowned.” 6759. Would you have a post-mortem in that case P —No. Found drowned—no evidence to show how or why or by what means he or she came into the water. 6760. And you would not call medical evidence in such a case P—No, not in that case. 6761. And in cases of death from severe accident, would you consider it necessary to order a post-mortem ? —In the case of accident where a medical man is called in, do you mean ? 6762. No, where a man falls off a cart, say P—A fatal accident. 6763. Yes?—I do not call a doctor in that case where the evidence shows me clearly that the man has been run over or killed in some way or other. There is no need for a medical man in that case when he is killed on the spot. 6764. Might I ask how you fill in the death certifi- cate ; what cause of death would you put in the death certificate P—Accidentally killed by being run over by a motor, or as the case may be. I describe the mode of death in filling up the cause of death, giving it in as detailed a form as I possibly can for the registrar. 6765. Would you say broken neck ?—Yes, most assuredly. 6766. Without medical evidence ?—No, in that case I should not, unless a doctor attended. If a doctor attended and said that the person was killed and the cause of death was broken neck, I should so describe it. 6767. If a policeman who examined the dead body told you that the neck was broken, would you be satisfied ?—I should be satisfied with what the doctor would say in that case.