R v. HM Coroner for South Yorkshire, ex parte Stringer (1994) 158 JP 453, [1994] COD 176

McCowan LJ and Turner J

5 November 1993

Following the Hillsborough disaster the coroner held initial inquests to determine who had died, and when and where, but delayed the determination of how they had died until the DPP had concluded her investigations. Following the subsequent inquests into how the deceased had met their deaths, the jury returned verdicts of accident. The families of some of the victims sought judicial review on the grounds that the coroner was biased because he was a paid council employee, that he had misdirected the jury as to manslaughter, that he had been wrong in conducting initial inquests into the where and when of the deaths and that he had failed to call relevant witnesses.

Held, dismissing the application for judicial review, where a coroner has made a full inquiry and conducts himself scrupulously, shows no lack of fairness, no unreasonableness, and directs the jury impeccably, there are no grounds for judicial review of the jury's decision.