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Written question asked by Joan Humble (Labour) on Monday, 19 October 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 21 October 2009. It was answered by Lord Beamish (Labour) on Thursday, 12 November 2009 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Armed Forces: Coroners

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on which occasions his Department was legally represented at inquest proceedings in (a) 2006, (b) 2007 and (c) 2008; and what the cost to his Department was on each occasion.
Answer

The information requested for 2008 is provided in the following table:

Name Date inquest convened Cost (£)
1. Ranger S Shilliday 22 January 2008 23,530.35
2. Lance Corporal PB Muirhead 25 January 2008 3671.80
Ranger A Draiva
3. Private AB Cutts¹ 25 January 2008 539.81
4. Mr. Bradley 28 January 2008 14,077.48
Mr. Green
Mr. Evans
Mr. Meirs
Mr. Buckley
5. Sergeant JS Hollingsworth 1 October 2008 12,198.91
6. Captain J Philippson 15 February 2008 3911.41
7. Lieutenant E Douglas 25 February 2008 59,479.57
8. Captain D Patten 27 February 2008 7,447.23
Sergeant P Bartlett
9. Lance Corporal M Jones RM 18 March 2008 7,794.11
10. Marine TG Curry 27 March 2008 3,655.21
11. Gunner SR Wright 18 April 2008 5,477.51
Gunner S Vanua
12. Ellen Paddock 22 April 2008 23,934.04
13. Marine RJ Watson 2 May 2008 3,096.78
14. Nimrod 6 May 2008 102,336.84
Flight Lieutenant S Johnson
Flight Lieutenant L Mitchelmore
Flight Lieutenant GR Nicholas
Flight Lieutenant J Squires
Flight Lieutenant S Swarbrick
Flight Sergeant GW Andrews
Flight Sergeant S Beattie
Flight Sergeant GM Bell
Flight Sergeant A Davies
Sergeant BJ Knight
Sergeant JJ Langton
Sergeant GP Quilliam
Corporal OS Dicketts
Marine JD Windall
15. Lieutenant R Palmer 6 May 2008 8,463.37
16. Corporal DW Bonner 2 June 2008 2,118.71
17. Private T Rawson 2 June 2008 808.17
18. Marine G Wright 27 June 2008 3,748.51
19. Lance Bombardier R Clark 18 July 2008 2,312.66
Lance Bombardier L McLaughlin
20. Lance Corporal D McGregor 12 August 2008 33,081.68
21. Captain J McDermid 12 September 2008 5,215.68
22. Lance Corporal B Young 4 September 2008 15,173.98
23. Mr J Garnons-Williams 22 September 2008 24,590.68
24. Lance Bombardier JE Dwyer 26 September 2008 3690.52
25. Hercules 30 September 2008 236,140.34
Squadron Leader P Marshall
Flight Lieutenant DK Stead
Flight Lieutenant A Smith
Flight Lieutenant P Pardoel
Master Engineer G Nicholson
Chief Technician R Brown
Flight Sergeant M Gibson
Sergeant R O'Connor
Corporal D Williams
Lance Corporal S Jones
26. Corporal M Wright 6 October 2008 74,002.81
27. Private D Jackson 9 October 2008 708.77
28. Sergeant M A Stansfield 3 November 2008 6,392.22
29. Private A J Borketas 17 November 2008 31,841.25
30. Private K Thompson 26 November 2008 8574.90
31. Colour Sergeant M Powell 2 December 2008 44,307.26
Sergeant M McLaren
32. Lance Corporal M Ford 4 December 2008 20,477.27
Total 792,799.83
¹ Inquest halted by coroner in September 2007 when further evidence of incident emerged from witness: reconvened on 25 January 2008.

The cases in the table are those where the inquest completed in 2008, although the expenditure may have been spread over a number of years. The figure represents all costs associated with the inquest, including disbursements and VAT.I provided the information sought for 2006 and 2007 in a written answer on 29 February 2008, Official Report, column 2002W. Regrettably, in constructing this answer it has come to light that the information provided previously was inaccurate. I will write with the correct information once it is available.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
499 c692-4W; 294993
Session
2008-09
Subjects
Armed forces Coroners
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk