Post by Jeff LaymanPost by billy bookcaseWhy was this was ruled an accident rather than misadventure? If someone falls into the
water and drowns, that is an accident. If they choose to go swimming, is that not
misadventure as the death is caused by a risk taken voluntarily?
But isn't walking near to water sufficiently deep that a person might drown
should they fall in, not also a risk taken voluntarily ?
Are you perhaps referring to the coroner's ruling in the Nicola Bulley case?
Er no. That example simply followed on from your own example.
Post by Jeff LaymanPost by billy bookcaseIt would appear that as far as Inquests are concerned at least, the fact
that a person was a mountaineer and fell 2000 feet to their death
from an icy ledge is no more nor less an accident than if they were
playing bowls and somehow managed to trip up. and somehow fatally
bang their head.
Nor would the possibility as to whether or not the mountaineer was
in fact a member of a mountain rescue team, make any difference
And most people die in bed anyway. And so you can't really win in the
long run.
Different solicitors seem to have different views on whether or not "accident" and
the legislation include both terms? It seems to me that an accident is just that, with
no contributory factors. If someone drops something near the edge of some water, bends
down to pick it up and falls in and drowns, then how can that be anything other than an
accident? If however, they continually walk along the edge and fall in, then their
actions would be contributory, and in my opinion the ruling should be misadventure.
Probably a better example would be those who don't follow safe cliff paths, and walk
too close to the edge. If the cliff collapsed and they fell to their death while they
were on the "safe" path, that would be an accident. If they fell while too close to the
edge - whether or not the cliff fall included the "safe" path - that would be
misadventure.
The point is that Coroners record facts. Not opinions.
Thus it is a fact that
(a) Just under one half of the population are of below average
intelligence.
And so while it might be tempting to add an additional cause of
death to the list -
10. Stupidity
given than Coroners when recording verdicts have to accept people
for what they are, or rather what they were in this instance, a verdict
of stupidity would seem to fly in the face of (a).
A major cause of death in the UK is heart disease, And if we are to believe
medical experts, lifestyle and diet can in some cases have a major impact
on heart disease.
But nevertheless, whether a person weighed 30 stone, lived on Big Macs smoked 60
cigarettes a day, and never got up from the sofa or weighed 12 stone and was a
non smoking vegetarians and died while running a marathon, if they both died of
heart attacks, then both would simply be recorded as 5. Natural Causes
(Although if the 30 stone person was also putting away 30 pints a day
to wash down the Big Macs, then that might be recorded as 2. Alcohol
and drug related )
bb