A narrative verdict is a verdict available to coroners in England and Wales and in Ireland following an inquest.[1] In such a verdict the circumstances of a death are recorded,[2][3] being a brief free-form, factual statement (either instead of, or in addition to, one of the standard, and familiar, Short-Form Conclusions), which does not attribute the cause to an individual.[4] Narrative verdicts were introduced to England and Wales in 2004.[5]
Historical examples
The inquest into the death of Charlotte Shaw concluded with a narrative verdict in October 2010. Charlotte Shaw drowned while crossing a swollen stream on Dartmoor during training for Ten Tors in 2007.[6]
A coroner delivered a narrative verdict into the death of Secret Intelligence Service officer Gareth Williams whose decaying corpse was found padlocked into a red sports bag in the bath at his home in August 2010.[7]