Coroner Suspended Over Alice Gross Blunder Sacked
Chinyere Inyama had been involved in a series of controversial incidents
Chinyere Inyama. Picture: Facebook
February 14, 2023
A coroner who was the subject of demands for his dismissal after he mislaid documents relating to the murder of Alice Gross has finally been sacked.
Chinyere Inyama was appointed to head the inquiry into the death of the Ealing teenager in 2014 but left a police file on a train about her killing at the hands of Arnis Zalkalns. The file contained details about Zalkalns and the police had instructed him not to remove it from his office. The thirty-page document was reportedly found among a pile of magazines.
Alice’s family only learned about the blunder when it was reported in the media.
He was removed from the case and subsequent inquest but was later involved in a number of incidents which led to six councils served by the West London Coroner, including Ealing, writing to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) asking that action be taken against him.
He had been accused of bullying colleagues and being insensitive with the relatives of the deceased at inquests he was overseeing. He also had held over 80 hearings outside normal office hours.
In 2016 he was issued with ‘formal advice’ by the Lord Chancellor after an inquiry into the loss of documents relating to the death of Alice Gross.
In 2017, another investigation found him guilty of serious misconduct due to his behaviour towards two staff members at the court but was only reprimanded despite a request that he be removed by Hammersmith & Fulham Council which represented the interests of other west London councils and paid half his £120,000 salary on their behalf.
Neil Sherry of local undertaker W Sherry & Sons told the Sun that Mr Inyama presided over a complete implosion of the service requiring that a temporary mortuary had to be set up because of an eight week delay in processing bodies.
Hammersmith MP, Andy Slaughter, raised the issue in the Commons saying, " Despite previous findings of serious misconduct, three-year delays in issuing death certificates, secret inquests being held at night and important case papers being lost, he has been cleared by the Secretary of State to return to work. “
Last Wednesday (8 February), the JCIO announced, “The Lord Chancellor, with the Lord Chief Justice's agreement, has removed Senior Coroner Mr Chinyere Inyama from office for misconduct.
“Judicial office-holders are required to inform their judicial leaders (in this case the Chief Coroner) of any conduct-related matters which might affect their position or the reputation and standing of the judiciary.
“The JCIO received information which indicated that Mr Inyama may have misled the Chief Coroner about serious allegations regarding his conduct.
“Following an extensive investigation, a disciplinary panel found that he had deliberately minimised the allegations when he told the Chief Coroner's office about them. Mr Inyama accepted that he had done so.
“The disciplinary panel, having considered the mitigation offered by Mr Inyama, found that he must have known he was obliged to give a full and accurate account of the allegations.
“By deliberately minimising their seriousness, he knowingly misled the Chief Coroner. This showed a serious lack of integrity and a profound lack of judgement, which was misconduct of a serious nature.”
No more details were given in the statement about the nature of the misconduct of which Mr Inyama was accused.
Mr Inyama has not responded to press requests for comment.
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