Public Inquiries

Members of 2BR have considerable experience of acting for interested parties, Core Participants and witnesses in a number of the highest profile public inquiries and inquests. This includes representing a broad range of employers, corporations, individuals, medical practitioners, bereaved families and public authorities.

Inquests are often highly significant where there is an ongoing, or potential, investigation by the police, HSE or professional discipline agencies or where there are potential civil proceedings following a fatality.

Over many years, members of 2BR have appeared in high profile public inquiries, both in the UK and abroad, playing leading roles in many of the most notable inquiries of recent years:

• UK Covid-19 Inquiry: Jacqueline Carey KC is lead Counsel to the Inquiry and leads the modules examining the impact of the pandemic on the UK’s healthcare systems and care sector. Victoria Shehadeh is junior counsel to the Inquiry. Brian Altman KC represented former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, in the Inquiry. Eleven other members of Chambers (Austin Stoton, Rhys Rosser, Alex Davidson, Tomas McGarvey, Natalie Bird, Sarah Magill, Emma Kutner, Fred Batstone, Katherine Higgs, Omar Sabbagh and Eleanor Gwilym) were instructed on behalf of other core participants, including government departments.
• Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA): Brian Altman KC was lead Counsel to the Inquiry and led in several of the investigations including Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse linked to Westminster, The Roman Catholic Church and Institutional Responses to Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse involving the late Lord Janner of Braunstone QC. Jacqueline Carey KC was leading Counsel to the Inquiry for two of the modules, namely, the Internet Investigation and The Roman Catholic Church Case Study: Archdiocese of Birmingham Investigation.
• Brook House: Brian Altman KC was lead Counsel to the Inquiry, with Fred Batstone, established following a BBC Panorama programme, examining the treatment of detained persons at the Brook House Immigration Removal Centre in Gatwick.
• Independent Inquiry into Afghanistan: Brian Altman KC is leading Counsel to the Ministry of Defence. Cathryn Sutcliffe is junior counsel on the Counsel to the Inquiry team.
• Grenfell: A number of members of 2BR have been instructed on behalf of core participants in the Grenfell Inquiry. (Andrew McGee, Austin Stoton and Jim Sturman KC).
• Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry: Simon Baker KC and Charlotte Brewer represented the Post Office as leading and junior counsel, respectively, in the phase of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry dealing with prosecutions by the Post Office. Alex Davidson and Fred Batstone were also instructed by the Post Office in this inquiry.
• Undercover Policing Inquiry: Victoria Shehadeh is junior counsel to the Inquiry in tranche 2,  Katherine Higgs was counsel to the Inquiry in tranche 4 and Charlotte Brewer, Omar Sabbagh  and Sean Hammond, instructed by interested parties and core participants.
• Southport Inquiry: Jacqueline Carey KC represented the brother of the perpetrator. Rhys Rosser was instructed as junior counsel to the Youth Justice Board. Brian Altman KC advised an organisation on a discrete issue in the Inquiry.
• Nottingham Inquiry: Jacqueline Carey KC and Charlotte Brewer represent the Crown Prosecution Service. Tomas McGarvey acts for the Ministry of Justice. Rhys Rosser is instructed on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Past public inquiries in which 2BR members have appeared include the Ashworth Special Hospital Inquiry, the Inquiry into the Lakenhall House tragedy, the McPherson Inquiry, the Shipman Inquiry, the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, the Victoria Climbie Inquiry and the Mid-Staffs NHS Trust Inquiry.

2BR members have also been instructed in many of the highest profile inquests in recent years, including the inquests into the deaths of:

• the 96 men, women and children who lost their lives at the Hillsborough football ground (Christine Agnew KC and Tim Kendal).
• Jean de Menezes, the Brazilian man fatally shot by the Metropolitan Police Service at Stockwell Station on the London Underground, after being mistakenly identified as one of the fugitives from the previous day’s failed bombing attempts across the capital.
• Mark Duggan, who was shot dead by police in North London where the Metropolitan Police stated that officers were attempting to arrest him on suspicion of planning an attack and that he was in possession of a handgun.
• Harold Shipman, the GP considered to be one of the most active serial killers in modern history with an estimated 250 victims over some 30 years.
• Amitai Moshe, a Jewish baby boy who stopped breathing and died after being circumcised.
• Evha Jannath – where an 11 year old girl died after falling from the Splash Canyon water ride (Jim Sturman KC).

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