The family of a woman who died in a Romford house fire have launched High Court action against the east London coroner service.
Relatives of Rosslyn Wolff, who was found dead at her home in Myrtle Road in January, are seeking a judicial review.
They allege that a coroner’s reasons for refusing an Article 2 inquest – which would look at whether state failings contributed to the death – are at odds with the evidence.
Article 2 inquests are usually held if people die in custody or while detained on mental health grounds, but coroners have the discretion to engage Article 2 in other instances.
Relatives say Rosslyn, 74, was suffering from a mental health condition which caused her to make irrational decisions that negatively impacted on her own wellbeing.
A pre-inquest review in August heard she lived in squalor, surrounded by animal faeces and rubbish, and was sectioned months before her death.
Despite this, she was repeatedly deemed to have capacity – so when she refused interventions, her decisions were accepted.
But the court last month heard that an investigation by her mental health trust – the North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) – found she never had a proper capacity assessment.
NELFT and Havering Council both lobbied the coroner not to hold an Article 2 inquest.
NELFT’s lawyer, Giedrius Gencas, said while there had been a "number of shortcomings in care”, they “could be assigned to individual failings by individual clinicians”, whereas Article 2 exists to probe systemic failings.
Coroner Ian Wade QC sided with the authorities earlier this month.
He wrote: “She had declined additional intervention by the state. Her mental capacity had been assessed and she was deemed to have capacity. She was therefore entitled to exercise choice.”
Rosslyn's son Gary Parkin said the family would fight the decision.
"If this is not a case for an Article 2, I don’t know what is," he said. "Did he not listen to what NELFT said in court?”
The coroner service cannot respond publicly to the family’s concerns.
Rosslyn’s inquest, previously listed for late October, has been postponed until the legal action is resolved.
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