Coroner who left key Alice Gross file on train found guilty of misconduct

Investigated: Senior coroner Chinyere Inyama was found guilty of misconduct
Laura Proto16 February 2016

A coroner who left key documents into the case of murdered schoolgirl Alice Gross on a train has been found guilty of misconduct.

Chinyere Inyama, senior coroner at West London Coroner’s Court, lost a 30-page police file in November 2014, just over a month after the schoolgirl’s body was found in the River Brent.

The 14-year-old disappeared from her home in Hanwell in August 2014 and sparked the biggest police operation since the 7/7 London bombings. Her body was found weighed down in the river on September 30.

An investigation was launched after Mr Inyama’s major blunder came to light and police tried to trace the file, but it was thought to have been destroyed.

Officials said Mr Inyama would be "issued with advice" and would remain in his job after the incident.

The evidence file is believed to have contained information about Arnis Zalkalns, the prime suspect in the case, who was found hanged in Boston Manor Park on October 4, 2014.

Murdered: The body of schoolgirl Alice Gross was found concealed in the River Brent

Police previously said Zalkalns, who served seven years in prison for murdering his wife in Latvia, would have been charged with the 14-year-olds murder if he had been alive.

The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JICO) today published a statement regarding its investigation.

A JICO spokesman said: “Senior coroner Chinyere Inyama, senior coroner for West London has been subject to a conduct investigation after temporarily misplacing a police report in relation to a case before him.

“The Lord Chief Justice and the Lord Chancellor found that coroner Inyama’s failure to report the loss to the chief coroner at the time it occurred amounts to misconduct and have issued him with formal advice regarding the future handling of sensitive information.”

A spokeswoman for West London Coroner’s Court, in Bagleys Lane, Fulham, directed the Standard to contact Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s press office.

A council spokesman said: “We received official notification from the JCIO today on its findings and we respect their ruling in this unfortunate matter.

“However as the JCIO is currently investigating our complaints about the senior coroner it would be inappropriate for us to comment further.”

Alice’s inquest will now take place at Westminster Coroner’s Court.

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