Lily Lewis

Overview

Lily represents bereaved families in inquests arising from deaths in varied, complex and often high-profile circumstances, in both Article 2 and non-Article 2 contexts. Her expertise includes deaths resulting from mental health conditions in detained and community settings, deaths in police custody or following police contact, deaths in prison and deaths of children and young people involving multiple agencies.

Lily is committed to securing justice for those affected by the most serious, systemic state and corporate failings, and is particularly interested in cases which investigate the presence of systemic issues in state institutions.

Lily also has an impressive public inquiry practice. She is currently instructed in three major public inquiries:

• The Lampard Inquiry which investigates the circumstances surrounding the deaths of mental health inpatients under the care of NHS Trusts over a 24-year period. Lily represents the charity INQUEST and delivered the Opening Statement to the Inquiry on their behalf (this can be viewed on the Inquiry website).
• The Undercover Policing Inquiry, set up to establish the truth about undercover policing in England and Wales from 1968 to the present day, and to provide recommendations for the future. Lily acts on behalf of a number of Core Participants who were subject to surveillance by undercover officers. She delivered the Opening Statement on behalf of Core Participants for Tranche 2 (this has been published by the Inquiry, starting at 53:20).
• The UK Covid-19 Inquiry, set up to examine the UK’s response to and impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and learn lessons for the future. Lily acts for Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice (CBFFJ), a UK-wide group made up of thousands of members whose loved ones died during the pandemic.

Lily is recommended by both Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500 for Inquests and Public Inquiries.

She provides training and advice on legal and policy issues affecting bereaved families and is an active member of the INQUEST Lawyers Group.

Notable Cases

Inquest touching on the death of Charlotte Parry – reported in the Manchester Mill and the Manchester Evening News.
Represented the family in a two-week Article 2 jury inquest into the death of Charlotte Parry, who died at the age of 27 years old whilst detained under s.3 MHA 1983 by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (“GMMH”). The jury found numerous causative failures in the care and treatment offered to Ms Parry, including a finding that systemic issues within the Trust were causative of her death, noting “serious and systemic failures” in GMMH and “incompetent leadership” of the Trust. The jury also found that Charlotte’s death was contributed to by neglect.

Inquest touching on the death of Mia Janin – reported in The Times, BBC, Telegraph, Independent and The Guardian, and others.
Inquest into the death of 14-year-old Mia Janin who took her own life following the experience of bullying behaviour from male students at her school. The coroner returned a narrative conclusion and, following submissions made on behalf of the family, issued a detailed Prevention of Future Deaths report to the Headteacher of The Jewish Free School relating to gender based bullying at the school. The case was widely covered in national news and cited in debates in the House of Commons relating to access to smartphones for young people and cyber-bullying.

Inquest touching on the death of Linda Banks – reported by the BBC, ITV and the Northern Echo
Represented the family at the inquest into the death of Linda Banks, who died by overdose whilst a community mental health patient under the care of the Tees Esk and Wear Valley NHS Trust Crisis Team. The Coroner returned a narrative conclusion making numerous critical findings and issued a detailed Prevention of Future Deaths report in relation to actions taken by the Trust to address thematic issues with the functioning of services, and delays in internal post-death investigations.

Following submissions made on behalf of the family, the coroner engaged Article 2 ECHR on both the systemic and operational basis at the pre-inquest stage, and upheld this ruling at the conclusion of the evidence. She found that although many similar issues in the Trust’s provision of mental health services had been identified previously by an internal review, it was clear that many of these problems were continuing at the time of Linda’s death and had not been addressed effectively by the Trust.

Inquest touching on the death of Liam McGenity – reported by the BBC, Liverpool Echo and The Times
Represented the family in the two-week Article 2 jury inquest into the death of Liam McGenity, who died at the age of 29 years old whilst detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 at St Mary’s Hospital, operated by provide healthcare provider Elysium Healthcare. The jury made numerous causative findings in relation to the care and treatment provided to Liam and returned a finding of neglect.

Inquest touching on the death of Ty Channce – reported in the Northern Echo, Teesside Gazette and ITV
Article 2 jury inquest into the self-inflicted death of Ty Channce, who was 20 years old  at the time of his death whilst on unescorted leave from Roseberry Park Hospital in Middlesbrough, where he was detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. The jury made numerous critical causative findings in their conclusion in relation to the care and treatment given to Ty, including the decision to grant unescorted leave.

Inquest touching on the death of Amy Butcher – reported by the BBC and the i Paper
Inquest into the death of a young woman who died by suicide as a community mental health patient under the care of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team. The coroner returned a narrative conclusion which found that the deterioration in Ms Butcher’s mental health was exacerbated by inadequacies in the Trust’s management of her medication needs and, following submissions made on behalf of the family, issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

Overview

Lily’s public law work covers her core areas of practice with an emphasis on cases involving human rights issues. She accepts instructions in judicial reviews involving inquest and inquiries law, access to justice, police law, national security and counterterrorism, equality and discrimination, and claims raising open justice and freedom of expression issues.

Overview

Lily acts in the full range of civil work against public authorities. She specialises in civil claims and public law proceedings arising out inquests and inquiries, and regularly settles Human Rights Act, Fatal Accidents Act and other claims.