Andrew Dismore

Labour London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden Andrew Dismore has tabled a motion to the London Assembly calling for it to write to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office, Lord Chancellor, Chief Coroner and Lord Chief Justice expressing serious concern about the comments, decisions and actions of Mary Hassell, the coroner for Inner North-East London; and calls upon the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to do the same.

Ms Hassell has come under fire from Muslim and Jewish groups in her district for saying that she would operate a “cab rank rule” for the release of bodies which will delay their release. Members of the Muslim and Jewish faith require bodies to be buried on the day of death, or as early as possible.

Ms Hassell is the senior coroner for the St Pancras Coroners Court, which comprises Camden, Islington, Hackney and Tower Hamlets. This area comprises some of the largest Muslim and Jewish communities in the country.

Mr Dismore said:

‘Ms Hassell must go. She has lost the trust of the community, and demonstrated an appalling disregard for the people she is supposed to serve. She is clearly incapable of serving diverse communities and does not respect their faith practices. This is the wrong attitude for any part of the country, let alone somewhere as diverse as inner North London.’’

ENDS

Notes:

• Andrew Dismore is the Labour London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden
• Text of Mr Dismore’s motion can be found here.