Westminster coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox made her first return to the Isle of Man since her days as a house surgeon at the former Noble’s Hospital to give the 2012 Caroline Weatherill memorial lecture.
Organised by the Isle of Man Law Society and sponsored by Appleby the event attracted an audience of more than 180 to listen to Dr Wilcox, who presided over the Gareth Williams ‘MI6 spy in a bag’ case earlier this year.
Dr Wilcox said it was ‘an honour and a privilege’ to have been given the opportunity to come to the Isle of Man to deliver the key lecture in the Law Society’s calendar. Her presentation described the workings of the coroner’s court and her role as ‘an independent judicial officer appointed by the Crown to investigate violent and unnatural deaths’.
She covers four boroughs – Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Merton and Wandsworth – within which are 77 hospitals, two major trauma centres and Wandsworth prison, ‘the largest in Europe’. It was a demanding, sometimes harrowing, job. ‘From plagues of tourists falling victim to traffic accidents to spies in bags, you just get on with it, which is what I learned as a Noble’s Hospital house surgeon,’ said Dr Wilcox who added that her time there had given her an invaluable breadth of experience.
She went to explain that inquests were public hearings that posed the questions: Who? How? When? and Where? ‘But “how?” generally causes the most difficulty,’ she said.
Much of her work was aimed at preventing unnecessary deaths in the future and ‘allaying public anxiety.’ Her mission was, she explained, ‘the search for truth’, a legal process that required her to manage the expectations of interested parties ranging from family members to employers, medical practitioners to the police, which prompted her to comment: ‘So if you don’t upset someone in the process, you’re probably not doing your job.’
Families were ‘at the heart the [coroner’s] enquiry,’ she said. ‘They bring their concerns to the coroner’s office and are very empowered.’ She cautioned, however, that there had to be a balance between the concerns of the families and those of all other interested parties.
Looking to the future Dr Wilcox believed planned changes in legislation in the UK would see more litigation and coroners’ enquiries ‘of greater complexity’ becoming ‘increasingly adversarial’.
Before closing Dr Wilcox spoke of the intense media interest in the Gareth Williams case that had led to barristers speaking faster than usual so they could meet press and TV deadlines and to her witnessing demonstrations of how zipped and locked bags could be opened in under 15 seconds while the zip remained in place. It was a case that caused her to comment: ‘Just because it’s possible, doesn’t make it probable.’
At the end of the lecture president of the Isle of Man Law Society Jason Stanley gave a speech of thanks and Appleby managing partner Sean Dowling presented Dr Wilcox with a gold pendant of Celtic design, a gift of appreciation specially commissioned by the Society, the design of which is incorporated into a piece of jewellery given only to the Caroline Weatherill memorial lecture speakers.
The evening concluded with a collection for People in Need, the Isle of Man Law Society’s charity that makes donations for specific cases of urgent need to vulnerable members of the community.
The annual lecture was established in 2007 in memory of Caroline Weatherill, an advocate with Dickinson Cruickshank who tragically died at an early age in 2006, leaving husband Lawrence, a practising advocate, and four children.
For more information about the Isle of Man Law Society visit www.iomlawsociety.co.im.
Photo caption - Dr Fiona Wilcox is presented with a gift of appreciation, a gold pendant of Celtic design, by Appleby managing partner Sean Dowling, left. Also pictured is Isle of Man Law Society president Jason Stanley. Picture Andrew Barton.
