Grieving family still waiting on inquest date for murdered Janet
SISTER FEARS JUSTICE WILL NOT BE SERVED IF HEARING TAKES PLACE WITHOUT A JURY – BUT CORONER SAYS NO STONE WILL BE LEFT UNTURNED
THE heartbroken family of a mother-of-six who was killed by a convicted murderer while he was out on licence have been left in limbo about a date for her inquest.
The inquest into Janet Scott, 51, from Arnold, was due to take place in September, but that date has now been cancelled.
Mrs Scott was stabbed and then “mowed down” by a car in Peel Street on the morning of January 29, 2018.
Simon Mellors, 56, formerly of North Sherwood Street, was responsible for her death and carried out the brutal killing after she ended a relationship with him.
Mellors had a history of violence after being released on licence after beating and strangling to death his previous partner, Pearl Black, 36, at her Bramcote home in 1999.
He killed himself at Strangeways Prison in Manchester after being arrested and charged with killing Mrs Scott.
A domestic homicide review released by Gedling Borough Council said the probation service “failed completely in its duty to involve other agencies in managing the risk he posed to women”.
The inquest was due to take place in February but was then moved to September.
At a pre-inquest review on Tuesday the coroner said the September date had been “vacated” and no new date had been set.
Coroner Jonathan Straw asked the family if they wished to hold the inquest without a jury in order to speed things up, but Janet’s sister Sue Thomson, 61, of Carlton, argued against it.
At the end of the inquest, instead of the coroner deciding the conclusion, they will give the jury a choice of possible conclusions and the jury will select the one they feel best fits the facts.
Mrs Thomson told the Post: “I am not happy about it.
“I feel like this is going to go ahead without a jury. It is starting to make me feel ill again.
“It will be three years since my sister has been gone in January.
“I know it can’t be helped but we have had three coroners since it started.
“I feel it is so important to have a jury for Janet because the probation service failed her.
“If it goes ahead without a jury it will just be a slap on the hand.
“We have to live with not having a sister and her kids not having a mum for the rest of our lives.
“It feels like Janet does not matter.
She has been gone three years and we still have no date for the inquest. While this continues it is harder for us.”
Mr Straw said the reason the inquest could not go ahead with a jury in September was due to the court system being “engulfed and paralysed by the current pandemic.”
He said the court room could not accommodate so many people at one time and there could be struggles around social distance.
He said: “If there was a practical way around the problem I think by now we would have found it but I am not sure at the present time there is an obvious solution.”
He said one potential answer was to have the matter heard without a jury to ensure there weren’t any further delays.
He listened to family concerns and will set a date, possibly in August, to determine what the way forward should be.
“Without a jury it is much easier to accommodate this inquest,” he added.
“I am hugely conscious about the age of this inquest and the need on everyone’s part to get the matter resolved.
“You can rest assured no stone will be left unturned.
“Unfortunately we are in limbo while we try and wrestle with the regulations and if there is any relaxation of these rules in the coming weeks and months.
“I can promise you all – this inquest has been top of the agenda.”