Coroner rejects family body plea

Oct 2 2007 By Tony Collins, Birmingham Mail

A CORONER today refused a plea to release the body of an 81-year-old Birmingham grandmother so she can be laid to rest by her heartbroken family.

Birmingham Coroner Aidan Cotter also rejected a suggestion from West Midlands Police that a second post mortem be held on Mohinder Kaur, who was found bound and gagged in the hallway of her flat, in Nutgrove Close, Kings Heath, on August 25.

Mr Cotter listened to the appeals of Mrs Kaur's son, Santogh Singh, during today's resumed inquest.

But he told the family he would continue to retain the mother-of-five's body, and adjourned the hearing again until October 16.

Mr Singh told today's hearing: "We are really stressed and being torn apart. It's making members of the family physically and mentally ill."

Addressing the coroner directly, he added: "I would ask you to please consider releasing the body."

The man leading the murder inquiry, Det Chief Insp Steve Bimson, of West Midlands Police, said: "I understand the concerns of the family as the investigation continues and they want to make funeral arrangements.

"But I cannot guarantee that a charge will be made in the next two weeks or even after that date."

Mr Bimson added that, although Mrs Kaur died from suffocation, she also suffered from heart disease which meant a defendant could be charged with manslaughter or murder.

"She may well have survived being bound without the complication of her heart disease," he said.

The coroner said the request from West Midlands Police for a second post mortem was "not convincing".

But he said he could not release Mrs Kaur's body because a defendant may well call for an independent forensic examination by a specialist pathologist.

Mr Cotter added: "Mrs Kaur was not a young woman, nor a fit woman, and there is likely to be considerable argument as to what precisely caused her death."

He said he had to ensure any future defendant was given a fair trial.

Mr Bimson renewed appeals for anyone who saw Mrs Kaur in the Kings Heath area on August 24, or who saw any suspicious activity that evening, to contact them.

A suspect arrested in connection with Mrs Kaur's death has been bailed until October 15.