HM Senior Coroner for Northumberland v HM Assistant Coroner for Northumberland

Facts

His Majesty's senior coroner for Northumberland brought a Part 8 claim against His Majesty's assistant coroner for Northumberland concerning the inquest touching the death of Michael Paul Hargreaves, who was 78 when he died. The deceased's wife had died on 25 May 2024, and both before and after her death he had expressed suicidal ideation to medical professionals; he did not consent to that information being shared, and his family were unaware of it. On 30 May 2024 he drove his car, in his nightwear and without a seatbelt, into a wall and sustained fatal injuries, being pronounced dead at the scene. A police officer found his keys in the outside of the door, the house clean and tidy, a handwritten note on the kitchen table and contact numbers in the hallway. The inquest opened on 24 June 2024 and concluded on 20 December 2024 on read evidence, the assistant coroner recording a conclusion of suicide and finding in Box 3 of the Record of Inquest that the deceased had expressed an intention to take his own life "to family and professionals". The deceased's brother, John Peter Hargreaves, complained on 24 December 2024 that he had given evidence that he knew nothing of those intentions. The Solicitor General granted a fiat on 8 December 2025, and the claim form, dated 15 January 2026, was issued on 29 January 2026.