The Queen (on the application of Sharon Grice) v HM Senior Coroner of Brighton and Hove
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Mr Justice Garnham |
| Judgment Date | 24 December 2020 |
| Neutral Citation | [2020] EWHC 3581 (Admin) |
| Docket Number | Case No: CO/1325/2020 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Administrative Court) |
[2020] EWHC 3581 (Admin)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
Mr Justice Garnham
Case No: CO/1325/2020
and
and
Kirsty Brimelow QC and Harriet Johnson (instructed by Hudgell Solicitors) for the Claimant
Jonathan Hough QC (instructed by Brighton and Hove City Council Legal Services) for the Defendant
George Thomas (instructed by Weightmans LLP) for the First Interested Party
Gwen Goring (instructed by Trust Legal Services Team) for the Second Interested Party
Hearing dates: 10th December 2020
Introduction
On 25 August 2016, Shana Grice (“Ms Grice”) was murdered by her former boyfriend, Michael Lane, at her home in Brighton. That dreadful act, which has left Ms Grice's family devastated, has been the subject of a number of enquiries. The primary issue before the Court is whether the European Convention of Human Rights (“ECHR”) requires that, in addition, the inquest into her death should be resumed.
On 3 January 2020, Her Majesty's Senior Coroner of Brighton and Hove, Ms Veronica Hamilton-Deeley (“the Coroner”), decided not to re-open the inquest into the killing of Ms Grice. By these judicial review proceedings, Shana's mother, Sharon Grice, seeks to challenge that decision. Cheema-Grubb J granted the Claimant leave to apply for judicial review on two grounds:
(i) The Defendant's decision not to resume the inquest and hold a full inquest into Ms Grice's death is a breach of the Investigative duty under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights;
(ii) The decision not to resume the inquest was irrational.
The Claimant, Mrs Grice, was represented by Kirsty Brimelow QC and Harriet Johnson. In both their written and oral submissions, they concentrated almost entirely on Ground 1. At the end of the hearing, I suggested to Ms Brimelow that if she succeeded on Ground 1 she would not need Ground 2 and that if she failed on Ground 1 it would be difficult to succeed on Ground 2. She agreed. Nonetheless, both grounds are maintained and will be addressed below, the latter very briefly.
The relief sought includes an order quashing the Defendant's decision of January 2020 and a mandatory order requiring the Defendant to resume the inquest.
By her counsel, Mr Jonathan Hough QC, the Coroner made written and oral submissions with a view to assisting the Court on matters of background and coronial law, and explaining the context for, and reasoning behind, her ruling. The First Interested Party, the Chief Constable of Sussex Police, has adopted a similar course. The Second Interested Party's submissions were somewhat more equivocal. Nonetheless, I am grateful to all counsel for their assistance both in writing and orally at the hearing.
The History
The essential factual background to this claim is not in dispute.
In the summer of 2015, Ms Grice began working at Brighton Fire Alarms where she met Mr Lane. By the autumn of 2015, they had started a relationship, which apparently broke up later that year. Ms Grice then resumed a relationship with her long-term boyfriend, Mr Ashley Cooke.
On 31 December 2015, Mr Cooke found a note on his windscreen saying that Ms Grice had cheated on him. In mid-January 2016, Ms Grice received flowers and an unsigned love note at work, later found to have been sent by Mr Lane. Shortly afterwards, she discovered the tyres of her car had been slashed. Mr Cooke's car, also, was vandalised.
On 8 February 2016, Ms Grice made her first report to Sussex Police. She complained she was being stalked by Mr Lane. She said that in recent months he had been waiting outside her house some mornings; that at one point he had thrown his keys at her; and that her tyres had been let down. She also mentioned the flowers. Her account at that point was that Mr Lane was just a work colleague who had misconstrued their relationship. She wanted the police to speak to him.
A police Resolution Centre investigator spoke to the human resources manager at Brighton Fire Alarms, who expressed concern for Ms Grice's safety. There had been a meeting at work at which Mr Lane had been told of Ms Grice's concerns. The police investigator considered issuing a Police Information Notice (“PIN”) but did not do so for lack of evidence. He telephoned Mr Lane and gave him a warning. He denied the allegations of harassment.
In the evening of 24 March 2016, Ms Grice returned home. Later, her housemates came in, accompanied by Mr Lane. There was an argument in which he followed her out of the house, grabbed her phone and pulled her hair. A passing motorist stopped and asked her if she was alright and then took her to her boyfriend's house. The incident was reported to the police by Ms. Grice's boyfriend's mother and Mr Lane was arrested on suspicion of assault.
The next day, PC Godfrey of Sussex Police took a statement from Ms Grice, in the presence of her boyfriend and his family, in which she claimed to have become friends with Mr Lane, but to have declined his invitations for drinks because she was not interested in a relationship with him. She recounted incidents of him following her home, the damage to her car and the unwanted flowers. PC Godfrey then interviewed Mr Lane, who said that he had had an “on and off” intimate relationship with Ms Grice since autumn 2015. He admitted having followed Ms Grice to speak to her but claimed to have ceased contact following the police warning. He said that she had contacted him, and the relationship had begun again. To support his claim of a continuing relationship, he showed PC Godfrey various text messages.
PC Godfrey then spoke to Ms Grice, who admitted that she had been in a relationship with Mr Lane. The officer decided that there was to be no further action on any of the allegations. Mr Lane was released without charge. Another officer issued Ms Grice with a Fixed Penalty Notice (“FPN”) for wasting police time by lying about the relationship.
Shortly after this incident, Ms Grice left her job (citing Mr Lane as the reason). She was then out of work for a few weeks, during which time Mr. Lane carried out unsolicited visits to Ms. Grice's home Mr Lane also resigned from his work before a meeting, at which he was to be challenged about his visits to Ms Grice's home, was held.
It is understood that, at some point, he placed a tracker on Ms Grice's car and continued to follow her. From this time onwards, different people described how Mr. Lane regularly seemed to be “lurking around” Ms Grice. However, it appears that Ms Grice and Mr Lane were still continuing a secret, periodic relationship.
In May 2016, Ms Grice found her tyres slashed again. Subsequently, Mr Lane forced his way into a house where she was in the company of another man.
In early June 2016, Ms Grice and Mr Lane began an overt relationship, which ended in early July 2016. Ms Grice began seeing Mr Cooke again, while continuing to see Mr Lane in secret.
On 8 July 2016, Mr Lane left Ms Grice's house, taking a back-door key. At 6am the next morning, he used the key to enter her home. He entered her bedroom, where Ms Grice hid beneath the bed covers until he left. She described her fear at hearing a man “breathing in her bedroom”. She identified Mr. Lane by looking out of the window and seeing him as he left the house. Ms Grice reported this event to Sussex Police, and an officer visited and took a statement from her in which she described her shock and fear. While the officer was at her house, Mr Lane arrived and was arrested on suspicion of theft of the key. PC Mills investigated the matter and he interviewed Mr Lane, who admitted to taking the key “stupidly”. Mr Lane was given a police caution for the theft and issued with a PIN for harassment.
On 10 July 2016, Ms Grice called Sussex Police, reporting a series of calls, one of which she had answered and heard heavy breathing on the line. She described herself as worried and scared. A police call handler told her that one of the numbers used to call her had been shown by a “Google” search to be that of a travel insurance company. In fact, it was Mr Lane's landline number. Eight days later, the police identified the landline as originating from Mr. Lane's address. No action was taken.
On 12 July 2016, Ms Grice called Sussex Police again, reporting that Mr Lane had been following her to work. A call handler assessed the risk of harm as “low” because of a lack of threatening behaviour and Ms Grice's presentation. Later that day, Ms Grice made a final call to the police, asking for an update. Although the calls were referred to the responsible officers, she received no response. Referrals were made to Victim Support and to RISE (a domestic abuse charity). Because calls from those organisations were made to Ms. Grice from withheld numbers, Ms Grice did not respond to their messages.
Over the following weeks, Mr Lane continued to be seen near Ms Grice's home. In early August 2016, a friend urged her to call the police. She said she was reluctant to do so because the police would think she was “blowing it out of proportion”. In mid-August 2016, she and Mr Lane arranged to meet at a local hotel. They spent a few hours together and apparently agreed that their relationship was over.
On...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
R Kelly Anne Boyce v HM Senior Coroner for Teesside and Hartlepool
...it becomes necessary to do so. He referred me to the judgement of Garnham J in R (Grice) v HM Senior Coroner of Brighton and Hove [2020] EWHC 3581 (Admin), and Mr Hough reminded me that Garnham J was an inquest lawyer of substantial practical experience. At paragraph 58 of his judgment Gar......