Heartless Coroner

[Canary42]

Warning: Distressing story.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-57427577

In this most tragic accident where a man lost three of his children and his wife, the inquest coroner brought up the possibility that it was a deliberate act by the wife. He said although the possibility of it being deliberate could not be ruled out, there was no evidence she had ever considered harming herself or her children.

So why even suggest it in the first place.

I think this was an unnecessarily cruel and heartless point to make because, as he said, there was no evidence .

There was no evidence of lots of other possible causes but he didn't raise them. Why this one. What an unpleasant bustard.

What do other Abers think ? Do you think it legitimate for him to speculate other causes for which there was no evidence. He could have speculated that it was murder by the husband, but of course he's still alive to sue. The wife can't defend herself against this monstrous suggestion.

[bednobs]

perhaps it puts speculation (which im sure was already going on) to bed. Having been (and still being) part of the coroner's process i can tell you that all of it is monstrous

[wolf63]

It's the Coroner's job to consider all the potential causes. He did nothing wrong.

Poor guy, losing his family bar one child.

[jno]

the car undoubtedly swerved. So the possibilities are that the driver did it deliberately or she didn't. I don't see how he could have avoided mentioning it, but he seems to have dismissed it quickly. Pointing out the lack of evidence will go on the official record, which I think is a good thing, otherwise future conspiracy theorists will say "Strange how he never considered that...".

[THECORBYLOON]

Is it possible to rule out whether it was a deliberate act or no?

I see nothing wrong with his comments.

[windywillow]

The comment at the end about the family losing everything in a fire made me wonder if the lady was depressed and had decided to wipe them all out, so I think the coroner was correct in his summing up.

What an incredibly sad scenario.

[Ken4155]

Just doing his job, imho.

[davebro]

Bit insensitive posting this under "motoring" IMHO.

[barry1010]

We only get an abridged report of the inquest. He mentioned it because the police during the inquest said that they had investigated many causes of the accident including if it were a deliberate act.

The coroner had no choice but to address it in his summing up.

[barry1010]

By the way, the house fire was electrical so highly unlikely to have been caused by Mrs Powell

[youngmafbog]

I understand where you are coming from Canary but this is a coroner he/she/they must keep an open mind and not be influences by emotion.

I see nothing wrong here,

[windywillow]

Barry, I meant that the lady may have been depressed because they'd lost everything in the fire, I didn't mean that she may have deliberately set the fire.

[Sunk]

I expect the possibility of the husband turning the wheel from the passenger seat was also considered and discounted.
The can swerved sharply and it was not a mechanical failure, so other possibilities have to be looked at. Which is part of the process.