Coroner Apologizes to Maddy Cusack's Family Over Inquest Delay
A devastating delay in the inquest into Sheffield United midfielder Maddy Cusack's death has sparked an official apology from the coroner. The inquest was initially set to begin on Monday, but it has been pushed back again until at least June 29.
The latest twist came when Cusack's former manager, Jonathan Morgan, testified that he is unsure whether his wife had booked a holiday for early July, which would conflict with some of the proposed dates. This uncertainty led to an adjournment of the inquest, leaving the family feeling frustrated and disappointed once again.
Coroners' Court heard that Cusack's death in September 2023 has left her family struggling to cope with the circumstances surrounding her passing. Her lawyers described receiving 699 pages of new evidence from Sheffield United just days before Christmas as "totally unacceptable", claiming it caused them distress during a particularly difficult time.
A lawyer representing the club denied any wrongdoing, stating that they had complied with all requests in a timely manner. However, Dean Armstrong KC, who is representing the Cusack family remotely, accused the club of ignoring their requests for a specific timeline and failing to meet the deadline for submitting evidence.
The case has been delayed multiple times, leading to frustration from both the family and the coroner, Sophie Cartwright. She expressed her apologies to the Cusack family on multiple occasions, acknowledging that they have been going through a difficult time.
As the investigation continues, the coroner's office is working to finalize the new date for the inquest, with up to two weeks allocated to complete the proceedings. Despite this, Armstrong described the delays as "extremely disappointing" and expressed his family's desire to move forward with the case as quickly as possible.
A devastating delay in the inquest into Sheffield United midfielder Maddy Cusack's death has sparked an official apology from the coroner. The inquest was initially set to begin on Monday, but it has been pushed back again until at least June 29.
The latest twist came when Cusack's former manager, Jonathan Morgan, testified that he is unsure whether his wife had booked a holiday for early July, which would conflict with some of the proposed dates. This uncertainty led to an adjournment of the inquest, leaving the family feeling frustrated and disappointed once again.
Coroners' Court heard that Cusack's death in September 2023 has left her family struggling to cope with the circumstances surrounding her passing. Her lawyers described receiving 699 pages of new evidence from Sheffield United just days before Christmas as "totally unacceptable", claiming it caused them distress during a particularly difficult time.
A lawyer representing the club denied any wrongdoing, stating that they had complied with all requests in a timely manner. However, Dean Armstrong KC, who is representing the Cusack family remotely, accused the club of ignoring their requests for a specific timeline and failing to meet the deadline for submitting evidence.
The case has been delayed multiple times, leading to frustration from both the family and the coroner, Sophie Cartwright. She expressed her apologies to the Cusack family on multiple occasions, acknowledging that they have been going through a difficult time.
As the investigation continues, the coroner's office is working to finalize the new date for the inquest, with up to two weeks allocated to complete the proceedings. Despite this, Armstrong described the delays as "extremely disappointing" and expressed his family's desire to move forward with the case as quickly as possible.
. And what really gets my goat is that the coroner is apologizing to them again, but where's the accountability on behalf of Sheffield United? They're just passing the buck and it's not sitting well with me.
. It's clear that there's some miscommunication or maybe even deliberate delay tactics going on here. The fact that Dean Armstrong is accusing them of ignoring their requests and failing to meet deadlines shows me that something fishy is going down.
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coroner sophie cartwright is just trying to do her job but it's like she's stuck between a rock and a hard place with the club not wanting to release evidence fast enough...i hope they can get this sorted out soon, maddy deserves justice 
Ugh, can't believe how frustrating this is for Maddy Cusack's family 
. Delays in an inquest are bad enough, but adding all that new evidence from Sheffield United at the last minute? 
Totally uncalled for, if you ask me. The fact that they're saying it was on time and that their lawyers just needed more time to review... come on, guys! 
You can't just drop a huge chunk of info like that right before Christmas and then act all surprised when everyone else is struggling to cope. It's like they expect the family to be all smiles about it 
. This whole situation has been a nightmare for them, and I just hope they get some answers soon 
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what about the proposed dates now gonna be june 29? still a looong way off 
. They're already going through so much grief and the club is still dragging its feet? No good 
. I'm just hoping they can get this sorted out soon for Maddy's family and bring some closure to their story 
. Fingers crossed they can finally get this sorted out soon 
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, all that new evidence from sufc just added insult to injury 
, need to get those dates sorted ASAP 
, so much frustration and disappointment for everyone involved 
. delays might happen, but apols from the coroner is a good start, lets see how it plays out