Samantha Leek successfully represented the Chief Constable of West Mercia Police in R (on the application of Andrew Palmer and Margaret Palmer) v. HM Coroner for the County of Worcestershire [2011] EWHC 1453, a judicial review of the Coroner’s decision not to resume an inquest following a criminal trial.
Adrian Palmer, a young man with Asperger’s Syndrome, was threatened and later killed by Ben Murphy, a man whom he had accused of rape. Mr Murphy pleaded guilty to manslaughter following two murder trials. Relying on Article 2 ECHR, Adrian Palmer’s family challenged the Coroner’s decision under s. 16(3) of the Coroners’ Act 1988 not to resume the inquest following the criminal proceedings.
Hickinbottom J ruled that the general duty under Article 2 (to have adequate systems in place for protection of life) was not intended to address specific needs of a particular group, such as persons with autism-spectrum disorders.  The evidence was not “remotely approaching sufficient” (§81) to find that the police knew or ought to have known of a real and immediate risk to Adrian Palmer’s life. The severity and extent both of Mr Murphy’s threats and of his violent antecedents were limited.  
Even had there been an arguable breach of the Article 2 operational duty, the investigative obligation had been discharged through the totality of investigations (IPCC, criminal and civil proceedings etc.)
A detailed analysis of this case can be found in the Legal Developments section.
Samantha Leek has extensive experience in judicial review claims arising from inquests and is described by Chambers and Partners 2011 as "a fantastically safe pair of hands"