Thursday 23rd November 2017

At the invitation of Mr John Ellery, the Coroner for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, Veronica and I accompanied the Lord-Lieutenant, Sir Algernon Heber-Percy, on a visit to the Coroner’s Court at Shirehall in Shrewsbury. We sat in on three inquests. The role of Coroner inevitably involves dealing with the family and friends of the deceased, who are naturally often very upset and emotional. We were extremely impressed at the very sympathetic and personal way in which the Coroner treated the family of each of the deceased.

We then had a chance to visit the Coroner’s office and meet the Coroner’s Officers, who tend to be ex-police, and discuss with them their extremely sensitive job. We also met the volunteer courtroom assistants who do so much to make the inquests easier for the family and friends of the deceased.