§ Mr. Lomasasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the practice regarding the reference of the case to a coroner when a person in receipt of a 70 per cent. war disability pension dies in hospital.
§ Mr. George ThomasThere is no requirement in law for the death of a person in receipt of a war disability pension to be reported to the coroner. Section 3 of the Coroners Act, 1887, requires a coroner to make an investigation when a death is reported to him and there is reasonable cause to suspect that the death was a violent one or was unnatural or was a sudden death the cause of which is unknown. Whether in a particular case the death of a person in receipt of a war disability pension comes within those categories will depend on the individual circumstances.