INQUEST

INQUEST has been active since 1981. It is the only charity providing expertise on state-related deaths. It campaigns alongside families to hold those responsible to account and effect meaningful change to prevent future deaths.

Its specialist casework covers police custody, prison, immigration detention, mental health settings, and deaths where wider issues of state and corporate accountability are in question. This includes the Hillsborough football disaster and the Grenfell Tower fire. Such processes can be extremely difficult for families; research by Professor Sara Ryan at Manchester Metropolitan University shows that families experience the inquest process as hard work, stigmatising and unjust. In light of this, INQUEST supports families to come to terms with their grief, take part in the inquest process, and make their voices heard.

It also campaigns for equal legal representation for families at inquests. Part of its work also aims to identify systemic failings in residential and custodial services, and advocate for positive change.

Three Guineas supports INQUEST’s casework for bereaved families of autistic people and those with a learning disability or in mental distress. This includes family consultation, public affairs, and core costs. One example is INQUEST’s support of Sara Ryan, who led the research above, and who is the mother of Connor Sparrowhawk. Connor died in his bath while detained at an Assessment and Treatment Unit (short-term secure mental health service). This was an entirely avoidable death and INQUEST supported his family in pushing for an independent investigation. It is one of many cases for which INQUEST helped families access truth and accountability from those responsible.