The government is considering making it harder for inquests to conclude that someone was unlawfully killed, in a move that could affect findings concerning deaths involving police, prisons and other state bodies. The Ministry of Justice opened a consultation on 14 September on restoring the criminal standard of proof, ‘beyond reasonable doubt’, for unlawful killing conclusions.
Currently, coroners or juries need only be satisfied ‘on the balance of probabilities’. The change would reverse a 2020 Supreme Court ruling in R (Maughan) v HM Senior Coroner for Oxfordshire, which established the civil standard for all inquest conclusions.
According to the government, unlawful killing findings are already rare and have not become more common since the evidential threshold was lowered. Just 91 were recorded among 39,118 inquest conclusions in 2025, approximately 0.2%.
The government said some stakeholders believe the current system creates an ‘uneven playing field’, particularly where deaths involve state intervention. A police accountability review found a ‘strong case’ for returning to the higher threshold, although the government says the consultation does not assume a change will be made.
The proposal comes amidst continuing scrutiny of deaths involving state authorities. Government figures show that reported deaths in state detention rose 13% to 622 in 2025, the highest level since 2017.
Two police officers are under investigation for potential gross misconduct regarding 18-year-old Henry Nowak, who was handcuffed while dying from stab wounds. A jury inquest is scheduled for September 2027. Meanwhile, an inquest opened this week into the death of Jean-Yves McIntosh at HMP High Down. McIntosh, 38, had been placed on a wing for prisoners with drug misuse but was allegedly still able to obtain a synthetic drug spice. After he was found unresponsive in his cell, officers took five minutes to enter and 12 minutes to begin chest compressions, according to his family’s solicitors.
His family’s solicitor Christina Juman said they hoped the inquest would ‘identify systemic failings, so that other families don’t have to go through’ the same experience.
The change could also affect domestic abuse cases where victims take their own lives. In 2025, a coroner concluded that Georgia Barter, who took a fatal overdose after years of abuse and a violent assault by her partner, was unlawfully killed because the domestic abuse caused her death – reportedly only the second such finding after the 2023 inquest into Kellie Sutton.
The consultation closes on 7 December.
