First report of the Departmental Committee appointed to inquire into the law relating to coroners and coroners' inquests, and into the practice in coroners' courts.

  • Great Britain. Committee on Coroners.
Date:
1909
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: First report of the Departmental Committee appointed to inquire into the law relating to coroners and coroners' inquests, and into the practice in coroners' courts. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    [ Continued. whether it is to be left or whether it is to be taken to the mortuary. 3143. Has the procurator fiscal power to move a body about anywhere in his jurisdiction ?—Yes. 3144. When he requires a post-mortem to be held on a body that is in a private house, can he remove it ? —Yes. 3145. Have you a post-mortem room attached to the mortuary ?—Yes, we have got a mortuary with a post-mortem room attached. 3146. And with proper fittings?—With everything one requires. 3147, You do not use the hospital pathological laboratory ?—No ; but in, say, an assault case, where the patient is still living, the police naturally take the patient to a hospital; they would not wait for me to come and see the case; then if the patient dies in hospital the body is taken to the hospital mortuary, and then it is usual to go and make the post-mortem at the hospital mortuary. 3148. Would you then employ for that purpose the hospital authorities P—If it was a serious case. I ought perhaps to have said before that in all serious cases we do not rely on one man’s uncorroborated evidence; there are always two medical men associated in the post-mortem examination. 3149. For instance, you would have one of the hospital authorities with you?—In this case that I have mentioned, if the patient dies in hospital, the procurator fiscal would order the pathologist, or it may be the surgeon who had first treated ‘the patient, to make the examination, but he would associate an independent medical man with him. 3150. Take the case of a man dropping down dead in the street; he may have died from apoplexy; he may have died from poison, or anything ?—-He would be taken to the mortuary. 3151. Would youtry to find out whether he had had any medical man attending him previously, and, if so, call him in?—What would happen in that case, and what happens every day, is that the body is moved to the mortuary; the police remove it; the police at once make inquiries, and in the course of 12 hours furnish a written report to the procurator fiscal stating whether there is anything known about the man, the circum- stances he was found in; and if he has any relations they are traced and inquiry is made as to the man having been healthy, or of having complained of a cough or a pain over his heart—any evidence like that is before the procurator fiscal. 3152. Then the procurator fiscal asks you to make a post-mortem ?—He sends down to me to do one of two things: either to inspect the body and see if I can say, from what I know of the history and appearance of the body, whether it is in all probability a death from natural causes, or whether if there is anything suspicious—bruises or injuries of any kind, I consider it a case for a post-mortem. Then I report to the pro- curator fiscal and then the procurator fiscal would order a post-mortem. 3153. What I want to know is when the procurator fiscal sends to you to do this, does he give you copies of the procognitions >—-He sends me the police report (he has not taken his precognitions yet), because he wants to have a medical man on the spot as soon as possible. 3154, So that in conducting a post-mortem, you have not only the post-mortem appearances of the body, but you have the police report ?—I have the police report with all they have found out about the case, and I may have interviewed the relatives myself. If it isa case where there is not any suspicion, in the first instance, I probably see the relatives and ask all about the case, and I form my own opinion from my examination of the body, as to whether it is a case into which there is any need to go further and whtther I can give a certificate. 3155. But take this case of a man dropping down dead from no very obvious cause, but you find he had been attended by a medical man, what conference or communication would you haye with that medical man ?—The police have already been to him, 3156. Would you want to see him yourself ?—I might. 3157. Supposing you thought that the clinical history might throw great light on the post-mortem ? —I do not do that; the procurator fiscal does that; he must take a precognition from that medical practitioner, itAS 3158. Would that ever result in a conference between you and the medical man ?—Yes, very likely; it might or it might not. But let me mention two cases which I saw yesterday, for example. One was the case of an old woman who was found dead in a house; she lived alone; the house was a respectable house; she looked a respectable woman; I found a doctor had been attending her for a considerable time for double aortic disease. With this evidence before me I inspected the body; it was stripped, I looked it all over, and I saw nothing suspicious; so I gave a certificate, ** Probably aortic disease.” 3159. Then you have the report P—Yes, I have the police report. Then the procurator fiscal may have asked me to give him a certificate, which I do, saying that on inspection of the body I found no external marks of violence, nothing to indicate death from unnatural causes, and in my opinion it was apparently due to heart disease, probably aortic. 3160. Then the procurator fiscal exercises his dis- cretion as to whether you should make a post-mortem ? When he gets such a report he is satisfied, and does not require a post-mortem unless there are circumstances of a suspicious nature. 3161. Is the other case of the same nature ?—The other case was the case of a man who had been com- plaining of his chest and had called in a doctor, who told him that he had phthisis, and he saw him two or three days before. He was suddenly seized with hemorrhage from the mouth; he was living in lodgings and the body was removed to the mortuary, and I saw the body. If I do not see it in the mortuary I have to go to the house. I found blood about the mouth and clothing, and appearances consistent with this history of phthisis; and, therefore, in that case I had no hesitation in reporting to the procurator fiscal that death was apparently due to hemoptysis.” 3162. When a written precognition is taken from the medical man in attendance, is he paid for it P—A. - guinea, 3163. And when you make a post-mortem exami- nation ?—I am paid two guineas. If I only inspect the body and give a report, I get one guinea—one guinea for what I call a medical certificate, which means a short written report such as I have indicated to you in these cases where there is no suspicion; but if I have to make a post-mortem the fee for that is two guineas. 3164. Supposing that you are assisted by a hospital pathologist in making the post-mortem, does he get a fee ?—If he is ordered by the procurator fiscal to be associated with me, he gets the same fee as I do. 3165. I may take it that for an ordinary inquiry the fee is one guinea and two guineas for a post-mortem, and that the procurator fiscal has discretion to employ such persons as he thinks fit >—Yes, 3166. He is not bound down to any individual P— Not at all; he may employ any man he likes. If the case warrants it; if there is any fact that is not made plain, and there has been a medical man in attendance, or one who has had something to do with the case, he sends for him to come to his office and asks him questions, and the doctor signs his statement. That is his precognition, and for that he gets a guinea. 3167. Then supposing further proceedings are taken corresponding to our inquest, can fresh fees be paid P— The procurator fiscal’s inquiry corresponds in all particulars with your inquest. 3168. I was thinking of where a charge is made against an individual ?—We will suppose this is a case, say of assault, that the patient has died, and some person will be accused of the crime. In that case the procurator fiscal has taken his precognitions from all the witnesses; he has had the post-mortem examination made by two medical men; they have sent him in a written report, ©