On Air The Afternoon Show Chris Quirk | 3:00pm - 5:30pm

Jury chosen for prisoner inquest

 

A jury for a three-week inquest has been sworn in at Douglas courthouse.

 

It will look into the death of Michael Joseph Davidson, who died whilst an inmate at Jurby prison on March 13, 2012.

 

It is standard practice for inquests into deaths in custody to have a jury, and over the course of the morning a pool of 70 was whittled down to the required seven.

The five women and two men will hear from around 70 witnesses, both in person and via written statements, over the next few weeks.



Witnesses will include people from the Department of Health, Department of Home Affairs, prison officers, the prison's governor, paramedics, toxicologists and prisoners.



The coroner of inquests, John Needham, explained to interested parties there was no conflict over the medical cause of death, as all expert evidence pointed to drug toxicity.

This afternoon the jury is hearing a full timeline of the days before Mr Davidson’s death – from his night out and arrest on the Saturday evening, to his court attendance on the Monday, his imprisonment in Jurby, up until his death on the Tuesday morning.

 

Mr Needham said this would be a ‘full, fair and fearless’ inquest, and he’s already highlighted a verdict of unlawful killing could be returned.

More from Isle of Man News