Justice for Sandra

Sandra Jean Allen was born on 17th July 1945 and died whilst detained under the powers of the Mental Health Act 1983 at a hospital in North London. 

Her family believe that the circumstances of her death raise serious questions about the entire mental health sector in Britain.

Find out why on her family's blog, Justice for Sandra

Update 16 October 2007 from Steven Allen, Sandra's son:

"At the present time we have just issued papers at the High Court arguing that the Coroner who investigated my mum's death should use the same sort of procedure as that automatically used to investigate deaths in prison. Juries automatically hear evidence about deaths in prison custody, and the actions of the state have to be 'anxiously scrutinised'. However, this is not the case for deaths in mental health institutions - even if patients are held against their will under the Mental Health Act - and despite the fact that patients under section have less rights than prisoners. 500 deaths occur in mental health institutions in this country every year, 10 times the numbers of deaths in prison custody, and yet juries do not automatically hear any evidence in these causes. We believe that the rights of mental health patients are being trampled upon by in the UK and will continue fighting for justice."

More updates to follow once the court date has been arranged. 

Please sign the petition on jury inquests

The Allen family have launched an online petition to the Prime Minister calling for an amendment to the Coroner's Bill to ensure that inquests into the deaths of people in mental health institutions are heard in front of juries, in the same way as the inquests into the deaths of prisoners.

You can view and sign the petition via http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Coroners/.