Inquest To Begin Into Sussex Police Failings In Domestic Abuse Case

An inquest will begin next Monday (June 21), looking into possible failings by Sussex Police in the case of murdered domestic abuse victim Susan Nicholson.

She was killed in 2011 by her then-partner 52-year-old Robert Rigg from Worthing, although at the time, Sussex Police did not find her death suspicious and the coroner ruled it to be accidental.

Her parents, Peter and Elizabeth Skelton, however, campaigned to have the case re-investigated.

After six years, in 2017, police re-opened the case and Rigg was convicted of her murder - he was also convicted of his ex-partner Caroline Devlin's murder.

After his conviction, the Senior Coroner for West Sussex intended to hold a short inquest, simply to amend the cause of death from "accidental" to "unlawful killing".

Susan's parents argued that the inquest should also look at the wider circumstances of her death, and in particular, whether it could have been prevented.

The coroner refused and so Peter and Elizabeth applied for a judicial review.

They were successful and the High Court ordered in October 2020 that a fuller inquest should be held, in order to comply with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to life.  

The focus of this inquest will therefore be to examine whether police failings contributed to Susan's murder.

Sussex Police has been asked, by More Radio, for its response to the calling of the new inquest.

A fresh inquest into the death of Susan Nicholson will begin on Monday 21 June 2021, 10 years after her death and four years after her murderer was convicted. 

Speaking ahead of the Inquest, Susan's parents, Peter and Elizabeth Skelton, said:

"We have waited for over ten years for a full inquest surrounding the death of our daughter.

"Susan was cruelly taken away from us ten years ago, and yet it has taken this long for the authorities to be questioned about her death.

"We want answers and we want to do what we can so that this doesn't happen again and other families don't have to go through the pain and distress that we have suffered."

Alice Hardy, Partner and Civil Liberties Solicitor at Hodge Jones & Allen Solicitors, representing Peter and Elizabeth said:

"Thanks to Peter and Elizabeth Skelton's dedicated efforts over the ten years since Susan's death, there is now an opportunity to investigate whether her death could have been prevented.

"We all hope that this process will ensure that any lessons can be learnt, so as to better protect victims of domestic violence in future."

The Inquest will run from 21 June to 7 July 2021 before the Senior Coroner for West Sussex, Penelope Schofield.

Susan Nicholson's family are represented by Alice Hardy and Fiona Bowen of Hodge Jones and Allen, and Heather Williams QC of Doughty Street Chambers.