A call has been made for Manchester's senior coroner to be suspended amid concerns about his conduct and capacity to do the job. The Manchester Evening News can reveal that a formal complaint on behalf of Manchester City Council has been made to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) asking for an investigation into Nigel Meadows' conduct.
The JCIO, which is responsible for investigating complaints against judicial officers, including coroners, has confirmed the matter is 'under consideration'. The complaint, which raised concerns about five 'specific areas' of Mr Meadows' conduct, has been seen by the M.E.N.
Although Mr Meadows is funded by Manchester City Council, he is completely independent. He has presided over more than 10,000 inquests during his career and has continued to oversee hearings in the 14 months since the complaint was made.
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Clearly the fact of the complaint raises questions about the confidence Manchester City Council has in this senior coroner. This is clearly a matter of public concern because coroners are an extremely important judicial role and Mr Meadows was appointed senior coroner for Manchester in 2006.
His job is to investigate deaths within the Manchester area where the cause is unknown or there is reason to think the death may be unnatural. Indeed it was Mr Meadows who opened the inquests into the deaths of the 22 people who lost their lives in the 2017 Manchester Arena terrorist bombing and went on to preside over a number of pre-inquest review hearings relating to the atrocity, but on October 22, 2019, Home Secretary Priti Patel announced an independent public inquiry into the Arena attack would be held instead.
The complaint to the JCIO about Mr Meadows was made on April 19, 2021 by area coroner Zak Golombeck and Manchester City Council's most senior lawyer, solicitor Fiona Ledden, who jointly wrote their complaint on behalf of Manchester City Council.
Details of the allegations cannot be given for legal reasons, but they set out allegations and concerns in five specific areas of conduct, including inappropriate comments by Mr Meadows, both within inquests and outside of proceedings; and behaviour which Mr Golombeck and Ms Ledden describe as 'bizarre'. Their letter called for Mr Meadows' 'interim suspension' pending the outcome of an investigation.
He was not suspended, although the formal letter was submitted in April last year. The complaint concluded: "We submit that the conduct referred to above warrants investigation and sanction… we cannot see how [Mr Meadows] can return to performing his duties and administering justice. We reiterate our request that NM is suspended with immediate effect pending an investigation."
On multiple occasions, prior to publication the M.E.N. has contacted Mr Meadows for a comment. A spokesperson for the JCIO said: "The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office received a complaint about Nigel Meadows, senior coroner for the Manchester city area, in April 2021, which is under consideration."
When asked why the complaint was still being investigated more than 12 months after being made, the JCIO said: "Beyond confirming that a complaint was received in April 2021, we cannot comment on a matter that is still under consideration."
A Manchester City Council spokesperson said: "The coroner is an independent judicial officer. The matter is being investigated by the JCIO and we cannot comment any further."
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