What does this mean???

[gingerflaps]

Sorry but i didnt know where to post this question.....

I read this in my local paper and wondered what it meant....

A local man has died at his home from a suspected drug overdose, there is an inquest into his death and the case has been opened.

What happens when an inquest happens, i think it might mean that the police are investigating his death, but how do they investigate, and what happens?

[RogK]

I suppose first of all they have to decide whether it was suicide, accident or whether someone administered the drugs and murdered him. I'm not certain but imagine the police will be involved. If it looks like suicide or murder they'll be talking to his friends and family and colleagues to find a motive. However, if it's clear that it was an accident maybe there's no need for much police involvement.

I'm clearly no expert, but someone here probably will be.

[RogK]

Here's a bit more. Hope you can get it:

http://www.yourrights.org.uk/your-rights/chapters/rights -of-the-bereaved/investigations-into-deaths/inquest-proc edure.shtml

[Octavius]

When someone dies at home, their GP should be called as soon as possible. The GP will normally visit the house and, if the death was expected, should be able to issue a certificate giving the cause of death. If the person did not have a GP or the name of the GP is not know, an ambulance would be called instead.

A doctor is not allowed to issue a certificate if they are unsure about the cause of death. When this happens the death must be reported to a coroner and the body will be taken to a hospital mortuary, where a post mortem may need to take place.

If the death was not due to natural causes the coroner for the district will also need to be told and an inquest may need to take place. The inquest is a limited fact-finding inquiry to establish, who has died, when and where the death occurred and how the cause of death arised. Also to find any information to enable registering of the death.

The inquest will then be adjourned until any police enquiries and coroner's investigations are completed. It is not a trial, only an establishment of the facts. The coroner however, has the power to investigate not just the main cause of the death, but also 'any acts or omissions which directly led to the cause of death'.

The coroner may decide that death was quite natural and that there is a doctor who will sign a form saying so. He may also ask a pathologist to examine the body and police to carry out their investigations (e.g. circumstances surrounding the death).

[gingerflaps]

ok i understand thanx....but, if the paper and people who know the person says he died from a drug overdose then why does there need to be an inquest?

[Octavius]

An inquest is opened generally when someone dies outside of hospital. If a doctor is certain that it is an overdose and police concur with the circumstances then the case is closed and the death can be registered with the doctor's death certificate.