Here we welcome One Pump Court’s Angelina Nicolau to give a timely update on inquests, in which she offers expert advice based on her own experience and provides essential information on all aspects of the law, in particular:

• Function of an inquest: The four statutory questions

• The enhanced investigative duty

• Deaths occurring in prison

• Self-inflicted deaths following contact with MH services

• Preventing future deaths

Relevant law

Middleton [2004] 2 AC 182

R(Parkinson) v HM Senior Coroner for Kent [2018] EWHC 1501 at §87-89

Osman v. United Kingdom (2000) 29 ECHR 245

Rabone v Pennine Care NHS Trust [2012] 2 AC 72 at §93-9

Hertfordshire Police v Van Colle [2009] 1 AC 225 §32

G4S v Kent County Council [2019] EWHC 1648 §74-75

DSD v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2019] AC 196

R(Skelton) v Senior Coroner for West Sussex [2020] EWHC 2813 (Admin)

Tyrell v HM Senior Coroner County Durham and Darlington and MOJ [2016] EWHC 1892 (Admin)

Savage [2008] UKHL 74

Morahan [2022] EWCA Civ 1410

R(otao Kent CC) v HM Coroner for Kent [2012] EWHC 2768 (Admin) at 64

Article 2 ECHR

Angelina has been ranked by Legal 500 as a Tier 1 ‘Rising Star’ in the category of inquests and inquiries.

Since October 2018 she has been seconded part-time to assist Hickman and Rose Solicitors as part of ‘Team 1’ representing the bereaved, survivors and residents (BSRs) in both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. She continues her regular practice alongside this.

Angelina also represents families in both Article 2 and non-Article 2 inquests, ranging from deaths following contact with the police, mental health services and social services as well as deaths occurring in custodial settings. She has successfully represented families in associated civil claims for damages arising out of deaths involving a breach of the deceased’s Article 2 ‘right to life’.

Angelina is also regularly instructed on a number of immigration matters, in both the First-Tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chambers. She is frequently instructed in asylum (including trafficking claims), deportation, EEA and human rights appeals. She regularly represents immigration detainees in bail hearings and has a particular interest in false imprisonment civil claims arising from immigration detention.