Supreme Court hears appeal over ruling by coroner that Article 2 ECHR not engaged where vulnerable woman deprived of her liberty died

The Supreme Court will this week hear a case concerning whether the death of a disabled woman who was deprived of her liberty engaged the state’s obligation to protect life under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, therefore requiring an inquest jury to make findings regarding the circumstances by which the death occurred.

The background to R (on the application of Maguire) v His Majesty’s Senior Coroner for Blackpool & Fylde and another is that Jacqueline Maguire, known as Jackie, was a lady with Down’s Syndrome who lived in a residential placement for adults with learning difficulties in Blackpool.

She was deprived of her liberty pursuant to a Standard Authorisation made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Jackie died on 22 February 2017. In the weeks beforehand, Jackie suffered symptoms including stomach pains, collapsing, and a sore throat. On the evening before her death, Jackie repeatedly lost consciousness and collapsed. An ambulance crew attended but left after Jackie refused to attend hospital. A GP advised that Jackie attend hospital but that if she refused she could stay at her care home.

The next morning Jackie’s condition had worsened, and she again collapsed. She was admitted to hospital, where tests showed her to be severely dehydrated and suffering from acute kidney injury. She later suffered a cardiac arrest from which she could not be resuscitated. A postmortem later recorded her cause of death as a perforated gastric ulcer and pneumonia.

An inquest into Jackie’s death took place in 2018. At the conclusion the coroner decided that Jackie’s death did not engage the state’s positive obligation to protect life under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

As a result, the jury was not required to consider the circumstances in which Jackie came by her death, and resultantly gave only a short narrative conclusion that Jackie’s death resulted from natural causes.

Jackie’s mother Muriel brought judicial review proceedings in respect of the coroner’s decision regarding Article 2. The High Court dismissed her claim. The Court of Appeal subsequently dismissed her appeal in Maguire, R (on the opplication of) v HM Senior Coroner for Blackpool & Fylde & Ors [2020] EWCA Civ 738. Jackie’s mother appealed to the Supreme Court.

A Supreme Court panel comprising Lord Reed, Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Sales, Lord Stephens and Lady Rose will hear the case on 22-23 November 2022.