Jackie Maguire, who had Down’s syndrome, became ill while living in a care home in St. Annes, Lancashire. The 52-year-old had been detained in the home for a number of years under deprivation of liberty safeguards. Jackie died at Blackpool Victoria Hospital on 22 February 2017, suffering a cardiac arrest following a perforated stomach ulcer, peritonitis and pneumonia.
At the first inquest into Jackie’s death in June 2018, Jackie’s mum Muriel and the family tried to argue that the circumstances of her death meant there should be an inquest which satisfied the conditions of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights – the right to life. This would have meant that the inquest jury would have the power to identify and comment upon what I regard as the many failings that led to Jackie’s death.
The coroner initially agreed but prior to the jury’s conclusion, decided the evidence did not constitute a violation of Article 2 – the right to life.
Jackie’s family have challenged this decision in the courts and are now taking their case to the European Court of Human Rights. The DSA has provided evidence for the court cases and have supported the campaign to support further investigation into the circumstances of Jackie’s death.
You can read more about Jackie’s story on the family’s CrowdJustice page or on the Irwin Mitchell website.