By Carole Dennett
The Isle of Wight coroner, Caroline Sumeray, sent a closely-typed 12 page ‘report’ on Wednesday night to members of the Isle of Wight Council’s Environment and Community Protection Committee, following their meeting on December 4. At that meeting councillors discussed the 61-point improvement plan for the Coronia Service, which has been under intense scrutiny for its long delays, and the longest backlog of cases in the country.
In a covering letter, Ms Sumeray referred to the Penn Report on the IW Council, which raised concerns about transparency, adding: “I would like there to be complete transparency concerning my Service.” That statement is striking, given her past responses to the IW Observer.
We have previously asked questions about the reasons she has claimed for the backlog of inquests. On each occasion she replied that she was not subject to Freedom of Information regulations, and declined to release the information voluntarily. In view of her documented new commitment to transparency, we will be resubmitting those questions, along with further enquiries prompted by her latest report.
Explanations that don’t add up
The report summarises 14 reasons for delays, citing complex caseloads, staffing shortages, absence due to “personal reasons”, IT problems, and wider national pressures. Yet not all of these explanations bear scrutiny.
She claims that around ten per cent of her cases involve prison deaths, but the answer to a parliamentary question in June disclosed that no prison death inquests were concluded in 2023 or 2024. She also points to “multiple ferry terminals” as a complicating factor, though it is unclear how she believes this impacts her workload.
Throughout the document, Ms Sumeray criticises external agencies – the Council, staffing arrangements, IT systems, unreliable local pathology services, even national structures – while taking no responsibility herself. There is no mention of the serious bullying allegations made against her, nor of the misconduct finding in July, when a senior judge ruled she had failed to accept there was any unjustified delay in an inquest that took four years to complete and recommended she receive a written warning. She also claims that much of the media and public criticism is “uninformed”.
Some progress has been made since the IW Observer and other media highlighted the backlog. Cases over 12 months old have fallen from 422 at the end of 2024 to 197 by December 2025, and she notes that 236 inquests have been concluded this year – but many of them have been decided on documentary evidence alone without a public hearing, raising criticism from some bereaved families who feel that they have not been able to give their evidence in public.
Ms Sumeray’s comparisons with Hampshire raise further questions. She points out that, when her backlog of cases over 12 months old was 422, Hampshire had 318 despite “ten times the staff.” What she does not mention is that the Hampshire, Southampton and Portsmouth Coronia Service serves a population of 1.92 million, compared with just 142,000 on the Isle of Wight.
Vice-chairman of the committee, Cllr Ed Blake, said: “Councillors are unable to directly scrutinise the coroner service as it is a judicial appointment. She says she wants transparency – that is essential in order for her to gain trust in her service – but that can only come from her.”
In summary, the coroner’s latest report offers reasons but little accountability. Islanders will welcome her new pledge of transparency, but they will now expect clear answers to the questions that remain about why delays have persisted, and whether the promised improvements will finally deliver a coronia service that meets the needs of bereaved Island families.
You can read the report and covering letter at iwobserver.co.uk/coroner-report.