Review into Coroner's powers to determine a Public Body

We have initiated this campaign in order to fund a Judicial Review of a Coroner’s ability to determine what is a Public Body: and the subsequent responsibilities that come with being said Public Body. 

Why this matters

Unfortunately, in January 2025, we found ourselves inducted into a ‘club’ that no one wishes to join, namely the bereaved parents/families of those who lose their lives at the Clifton Suspension Bridge. This is in spite of the 2018 Regulation 28 Report to Prevent Future Deaths issued by the Coroner to the Clifton Suspension Bridge Trustees after the deaths of 3 Bristol students and others that year calling for ‘improvements’ to the Bridge.

We have been on a subsequent journey, meeting fellow members of said ‘club’ and learning about the greater story surrounding the Bridge. Part of this has been the realisation that there needs to be an acknowledgement of the nature of the Bridge: that it is in fact operating as a Public Body.

The legal challenge

The Coroner has considered whether the Bridge Trust is a Public Body for the purposes of considering its obligations under Article 2 European Convention of Human Rights. In considering this, he determined that he did not have the authority to make a finding that the Bridge Trust is a Public Body, only whether it is arguably so. We say that is wrong, and the Coroner is able to make a finding as to what bodies are, or are not, public bodies for this purpose.

Hoped for outcomes

This is a claim for Judicial Review to formally recognise the Bridge Trust as a Public Body to avoid any other family having to argue whether obligations that apply to public bodies, apply to the Bridge Trust. This clarification is necessary, not only for considering the duties of public bodies under the Human Rights Act, but it is also hoped that those duties result in more steps being taken to prevent suicide at this location. These steps could incorporate best practice as demonstrated at the Bloor Viaduct in Toronto, the Grafton Bridge in Auckland, the Duke Ellington Bridge in Washington D.C. as well as other internationally significant sites.

Justice for the Invisible Deaths

Since our son, Teilo How, 22, died in January this year at the Clifton Suspension Bridge (one of at least 3 in a ten-day period), the death toll and the associated expense that comes with it (rescue/recovery and searches etc.), not to mention the loss of potential, has unremittingly continued. Due to the nature of the Bridge, the deaths of these individuals are often invisible; we therefore have a moral duty to act on their behalf: a sentiment echoed in Teilo’s last request ‘to care for others who may find themselves in [his] situation.’

Buying a better future

Please help us to fund the legal costs for this Judicial Review, to help us get justice for our son and those who have come before him. An initial target of £10,000 is required to start this process, with a stretch target of £50,000. We will update you as we continue this campaign to prevent future deaths at the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

We would like to thank all of you who have read this and have been moved to share it, and a special thanks to those who have felt able to donate to what we believe is a worthy cause.

Lindsay and Marc