Coroners Report

[Mat]

Hi Everyone,
                     a quick question does anyone out there know how I would be able to get a coroners report of a death in 1952/53 in Ayr if at all possible   
  Thanx Mat

[Little Nell]

Inquest reports are usually closed for 75 years.  The local newspaper may be of more use.

Nell

[JAP]

Mat,

In several respects Scots Law differs from the Law which applies in England & Wales - and one of these relates to enquiries into sudden, unexplained or suspicious deaths.  In Scotland there is no Coroner and no routine public Inquest and, it follows, no Inquest reports.  The Procurator Fiscal is the responsible officer and (to put it in rough general terms) the main task of that officer (unlike the Coroner) is not to establish the precise cause of death but rather only to determine whether there might have been any criminality or negligence which could require further action.  In doing so the PF may carry out a precognition (informal enquiry of witnesses) but only sometimes are the precognition papers preserved and possibly available.

You may find the following site of interest (it's far from perfect but gives the general picture):
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/forensicmedicine/llb/deathinvestig.htm

JAP

[RJ_Paton]

As JAP has correctly pointed out in Scotland we don't have coroners or inquests after every death. The Procurator Fiscal is responsible to the Crown for all investigations in a particular area.

A report on a death would only be submitted to the PF
1. where the death occurred in a public place
2. where there was reason to suspect criminal action
3. where there was reason to suspect negligence
4.where it was deemed by the PF to be in the public interest.

even under these circumstances the PF has a number of courses of action available
1.Continued police inquiry leading to a criminal case
2.no further action
3. court of public inquiry.

If a doctor attending the initial scene of the death issues a death certificate and is satisfied that there is no criminal act involved in the death then the likeliehood of the PF taking any further action is pretty close to zero.

[RJ_Paton]

www.crownoffice.gov.uk/news_items/Investigation%20factsheet.doc

is a document from the crown office explaining the role of the PF in deaths and their investigation

[Mat]

Hi,
    thanx Nell, JAP and Falkryn for your help. I was asking on behalf of my mother in law as she lost her mother when she was young and had a feeling there was some thing suspicious about her death. She managed to get a death certificate and the Procurator Fiscal was involved. On the Death Cert it says heart failure but she is convinced there is more to it than that, I guess she just wants to draw a line under it.

 Thanx Mat

[RJ_Paton]

The normal course re any death in scotland is that if the family doctor does not immediately issue a death certificate then the police are called.
The police obtain full details and request the attendance of a police casualty surgeon who may then in consultation with the family GP issue a death certificate(very rare)
If no certificate is issued a report is submitted to the PF outlining the circumstances.
The PF will then order an autopsy If there are no suspicious circumstances  a death certificate will then be issued allowing the family to proceed with the funeral arrangements.

In the circumstances of "heart failure" .... the deceased may have had no record of any previous illness and so the family GP in all good conscience could not issue a death certificate and the police would have come in as outlined above.

[Mat]

Hi all,
        thanx for your help Falkyrn, I've e mailed the PF office to see if they can assist

 All the best Mat