Report of the Inquiry into the circumstances of the Death of Bernard ...

ANNEX 2
INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION INTO THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING
THE DEATH OF BERNARD LODGE
DOCUMENT IP1 - PROCEDURES 1
1. The investigation is commissioned by the Director of High Security Prisons to
enquire into the circumstances surrounding the death of Bernard (Sonny) Lodge
at HMP Manchester on 28 August 1998. Full terms of reference are attached
(Annex 1).
2. The Chair of the investigation is Ms Barbara Stow, who will have sole
responsibility for the report.
3. This document sets out the procedures that the investigation has decided to
adopt.
Contact details
4. The solicitor to the investigation is Mr Christopher Topping, Jackson and Canter,
Solicitors, 88 Church Street, Liverpool, L1 3HD (Telephone: 0151 282 1700).
This is the correspondence address for the investigation.
5. The solicitor to the investigation may be contacted by e-mail at
ctopping@jacksoncanter.co.uk. The Chair of the investigation may be contacted
by e-mail at lodgeinquiry@btinternet.com.
6. The investigation will be announced by press release and on a website.
Interested parties
7. The interested parties identified so far are Mr Lodge’s sisters, represented by Mr
Robert Lizar, solicitor, and Mr Pete Weatherby, Counsel, and the Ministry of
Justice, represented by the Treasury Solicitor, Ms Alex Forgaard, and Counsel,
Mr Nick Moss. Anyone else who wishes to be treated as an interested party
should apply to the Chair through the solicitor to the investigation. Each
application will be considered and determined by the Chair.
Preliminary evidence gathering
8. The investigation has examined the evidence obtained for the Prison Service
Investigation and a disciplinary investigation, written statements made to the
inquest and a summary note of oral evidence, and other documentary evidence
provided by the interested parties. A chronology of evidence based on that
material has been supplied as a working tool for the interested parties and may
be made available in whole or in part to other witnesses to whom it may be
1 The terms of reference and the procedure were adopted before the investigation was converted to a
statutory inquiry. The inquiry departed from them where required to do so to comply with the Inquiries Act
2005 and the Inquiry Rules 2006.
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