Coroner's Guide/ Service Area and staff roles
A guide to the work of the Coroner is available on the Gov.uk website Guide to coroner services - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Here at Manchester City Coroners we deal primarily with deaths that have occurred within the area covered by Manchester City Council. Links to other Greater Manchester & Cheshire Coronial Areas are shown below
- Greater Manchester North covers Bolton, Salford and Wigan
- Greater Manchester South covers Stockport, Tameside and Trafford
- Greater Manchester West covers Rochdale, Bury and Oldham
- Cheshire coroner's court | warrington.gov.uk
Coroners
Coroners are members of the judiciary, have qualifications and substantial experience as a lawyer and are appointed directly by the Crown. They are completely independent and are not employed by the Local Authority, however, Manchester City Council fund the Coroner's Service so the office staff are all Local Authority employees.
'Manchester City' Area Coroners investigate all deaths within the Manchester CIty Council geographical area where the cause of death is unknown, where there is reason to think the death may not be due to natural causes, or which need an inquiry for some other reason. The Coroner will investigate each case in an appropriate way, which may be as simple as consulting with the doctor who last treated the Deceased, or authorisng a post mortem examination. In some cases, the Coroner may open an inquest, which is a judicial inquiry into a death.
Coroners have the authority to have a Deceased person brought into the public mortuary whilst they carry out investigations.
Other sections on this website explain some of the options available to the Coroner when investigation a death that has been referred to us. In all cases our aim is to disrupt familiy funeral plans as little as possible, while making sure investigations are effective and complete.
Manchester City Council Coroner's Officers
The Coroner has a team of officers who receive reports of deaths, make inquiries on behalf of the Coroner and communicate with relatives and these are the people you will speak to when you get in touch with us. There are also administrative and courtroom staff.
Police Coroner's Officers
The Coroner works closely with Greater Manchester Police and they provide Coroner's Liaison Officers, who are specially trained to work with relatives, arrange formal identification of the Deceased and take statements. It does not mean that there are any suspicious circumstances or anything to be concerned about it is simply that the Police have the skills and resources to go out into the community and gather information on behalf of the Coroner.