Stephen Kamlish QC and Christopher Williams of Garden Court Chambers represented the family of Jessie Earl in the Divisional Court on 14 December 2021.
The court quashed the 1989 inquest of Jessie Earl who disappeared in 1980 aged 22.
During the course of the hearing, it was argued that the circumstances in which her remains were found in 1989 overwhelmingly pointed to murder.
The court reserved its final judgment and indicated that the open verdict of the 1989 inquest would be quashed and there will now be a new inquest into the death.
Stephen Kamlish QC submitted that the police when treating the death as non-suspicious, following the discovery of Jessie’s remains in 1989: failed to follow lines of enquiry that were likely to lead to the truth, shut down their investigation after four weeks, with 103 lines of inquiry left uncompleted, and disposed of key evidence (including Jessie’s bra which was the only item of clothing found with her remains). Evidence placed before the court showed that if the bra had been retained and DNA tested it would likely have identified her killer.
The inquest was reported in BBC News.
