O'Brien v HM Assistant Coroner for Sefton, Knowsley and St Helens
Summary
The Court of Appeal (Civil Division) upheld the decision of His Honour Judge Sephton KC sitting as a Judge of the High Court in the matter of Sharon O'Brien. The appeal concerned a coroner's decision, with Merseyside Police as an interested party. The court, composed of Lord Justice Newey, Lord Justice Edis, and Lady Justice Whipple, dismissed the application challenging the coroner's ruling. Case No: CA-2025-000589.
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GovPing monitors UK Judiciary Judgments for new courts & legal regulatory changes. Every update since tracking began is archived, classified, and available as free RSS or email alerts — 34 changes logged to date.
What changed
The Court of Appeal dismissed Sharon O'Brien's appeal against the coroner's decision, upholding the High Court's ruling. The judgment clarifies the standard and scope of judicial review applicable to coronial decisions in England and Wales. Parties involved in coronial proceedings or judicial reviews of official decisions should note this appellate guidance on the correct approach to challenging such determinations.
Affected parties include individuals seeking to challenge coroners' findings, coroners themselves, and public bodies such as police forces that may be interested parties in inquest proceedings. This decision provides precedent for the treatment of such appeals and reinforces the threshold for overturning coroners' decisions on judicial review.
Archived snapshot
Apr 22, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
Neutral Citation Number: [2026] EWCA Civ 499
Case No: CA-2025-000589
In the Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
on appeal from the High Court of Justice
His Honour Judge Sephton KC sitting as a Judge of the High Court
AC-2023-MAN-000263
22 April 2026
Before:
Lord Justice Newey
Lord Justice Edis
Lady Justice Whipple
Between:
The King on the application of
Sharon O’Brien
-v-
HM Assistant Coroner for Sefton, Knowsley and St Helens
and
The Chief Constable of Merseyside Police
(Interested party)
Related content
- Download ROBrien-2026-EWCA-Civ-499.pdf file Judgment 253.77 kb Did you find what you were looking for?
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Source document text, dates, docket IDs, and authority are extracted directly from EWCA Civ.
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