The right verdict for Bethany Victoria Shipsey
The right verdict for Bethany Victoria Shipsey
Latest: Oct. 30, 2019
Held up until Spring 2020 awaiting the outcome of test case at the Supreme Court
Dear Justice for Beth Campaign Supporters
Apologies for such a long gap before sending you another update.
Our case to seek 'the right verdict for Bethany Victoria Shipsey' is still very much a…
Read moreBeth tragically died from an inadvertent overdose of the deadly industrial substance Dinitrophenol (DNP), which had been illegally sold as a diet pill on the Internet. It is important for us and Beth's siblings Tom, Nicola and Rachael that the record truly reflects Beth's last moment in life i.e. not SUICIDE
We are taking legal action to challenge the Coroner's conclusion that Beth took her own life intentionally. We are arguing that the ruling should not stand on several grounds. We believe the Coroner failed to apply the correct legal test for a suicide conclusion which lawfully required him to be sure beyond reasonable doubt that Bethany intended to take her own life and to exclude all other possible explanations for her death. Even Beth's Psychiatric Consultant gave evidence at the Inquest, stating it was too speculative to suggest Beth intentionally ended her life.
The Coroner dismissed the evidence and opinions from 5 out of 6 experts, and described the level of DNP in Beth's blood, which was the lowest in recorded history in a fatal case (on the medical evidence), as a 'Red Herring'. The Coroner also disregarded many other reasons supporting that Beth had no intention of actually ending her life. These included Beth's social media messages shortly before she died, stating "I'm sure my body can handle it" and "I'm petrified of telling anyone, as this is like my 15th overdose".
The Coroner reached the wrong conclusion of suicide.
Please support by contributing what you can but most importantly share this page so we can spread the word about our campaign. In life, we believe Beth’s human rights were breached. We are fighting to ensure that in death, Beth gets to challenge the Coroner's conclusion in the High Court, and receives the right and just verdict, that she did not intentionally take her own life, but it was a tragic mistake.
Case background
Beth was sexually abused by a former boyfriend who was sentenced to six years in jail. This triggered Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), a debilitating mental illness which made daily life extremely hard for Beth. Beth took an overdose of a ‘so called’ diet pill DNP where, in an overcrowded and overwhelmed hospital, the seriousness of Beth's condition was simply overlooked and she died as a result. Action is being taken to ban the DNP pill which is a killer of young people and has no known antidote.
This was Beth’s 15th overdose and as with all the other times before, another cry for help. There had been several pressures building up in the week before she died, including threats of rape from a stalker and to kill Beth's dogs; however, on the 15th time Beth made a huge mistake, as she had not bargained for the extreme toxicity of DNP that took her life, nor that the hospital would be so overwhelmed they failed to recognise the seriousness of the situation.
This isn't only about Beth as Inquest law is a hugely important area and the public need confidence that it is always applied correctly, particularly in the incredibly sensitive area of suicide.
How we look after people with mental health challenges and respond to their cries for help in the wake of traumatic abuse says a lot about the kind of society we want to be. We don't want anyone else to go through what Beth went through or any other family to have to go through what we have been through. We want to do everything we can to make sure the mistakes that were clearly made in the way Beth was treated are not made again. On a selfish level, until justice prevails and reflects Beth's true departure from life, as a family we are unable to rest or find any closure.
How much are we raising and why?
The Inquest alone has already cost our family a huge amount of money, as we could not get legal aid. It could now cost up to £20,000 to take our case to the High Court for a judicial review. There is no complaints procedure to contest a Coroner's conclusion, just Court action.
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Doug and Carole Shipsey
Oct. 30, 2019
Held up until Spring 2020 awaiting the outcome of test case at the Supreme Court
Dear Justice for Beth Campaign Supporters
Apologies for such a long gap before sending you another update.
Our case to seek 'the right verdict for Bethany Victoria Shipsey' is still very much alive, but due to having to await the outcome of another case, our fight has been held up until deep into 2020.
The Maughan case https://www.judiciary.uk/publications/maughan-v-her-majestys-senior-coroner-for-oxfordshire-others/ Is contesting the removal of the Higher Criminal Standards of Proof from Coroners or Inquest Jurys, which is currently 'beyond reasonable doubt' i.e. leaving them only with the lower balance of probability test 'more likely than not'.
We need to see the Higher Standard of Proof kept in.
The Maughan case has recently been listed to be heard by the Supreme Court on 26 and 27 February 2020 following which it is expected to take the Supreme Court some time after the hearing to hand down its judgment – perhaps 6-12 weeks.
So we're stuck until at least Spring 2020 before we can recommence our proceedings at the High Court.
The National Charity INQUEST has intervened to help the Maughan family, so at least their chances of success will have increased.
As soon as we know more we'll be back in touch.
That just leaves us to thank you all again, for your kind support and generosity.
Best regards
Carole and Doug and family
Doug and Carole Shipsey
July 6, 2018
Our application was filed at the High Court on the 29th June 2018
Dear Family, Friends, Associates and Supporters
The claim against the Coroner was served at the High Court last Friday 29th June and we’ll know if the application is accepted for a hearing in the next 3 or 4 weeks, I’ll keep you posted with any more news and ‘next step’s. Although the Coroner stated that he’d be taking a Neutral stance, he made a 10page submission to the Court! which looked more like a defence! That’s a lot to say about being neutral!!
We appreciate many of you were added to the circular as a secondment to help in funding the ‘Justice for Beth campaign’. So, now that funding is over, if you prefer to STOP receiving these emails please just let me know, no offence will be taken. We understand completely that too many emails etc can be frustrating.
More good news
So, the first ever person to be convicted of selling DNP that killed 21yo Eloise Parry, got 7 seven years of which half will be served out on license. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jun/29/diet-pills-dealer-jailed-for-seven-years-over-students-death he showed no remorse at any point.
The vast majority of DNP gets into the UK from Foreign lands, so more needs to be done to bring those sellers to justice. Our Foreign office are very apathetic about this, so much campaigning and pushing back is required to wake them up.
There are more DNP deaths in the UK than the USA & the rest of Europe combined! So, this is an endemic problem in the UK. Considering this, the UK seem to be doing the least to stop it. Germany, France, Belgium and Sweden are taking swift action against DNP even with on 1, 2 or 3 deaths, compared to approaching 20 in the UK.
Our government should be listing DNP as a regulated and classified substance which requires a License, making it illegal to sell, handle or purchase by anyone, including all individuals. But sadly, they have not.
We have found that DNP is actually Class 1 explosive and should be regulated for this reason alone. We have also found that its classification as a lethal poison has been upgraded making it one of the most 10 known lethal toxins. Again, DNP should be regulated and controlled for this reason too.
There is more news to come, and the momentum is picking up in the media. We’re doing more for a BBC consumer programme next week, and for the ‘dying to diet’ campaign being run by Free Radio Nationally. The Daily Mail are planning to run a 2page feature on Saturday 14th July.
Finally, if you’re up for a final round of sharing the campaign link, there are 2 days left to run https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/rightverdictforbethany/
Thank you all for your kind and generous contributions and support.
Kind Thanks
Carole and Doug
Doug and Carole Shipsey
May 16, 2018
Thank you!
Dear Supporters
Thank you so much for your incredible generosity and kind words of support.
The family are astonished with the very generous pledges and we are truly grateful, this is a real boost towards our efforts to overturn the Coroner’s suicide ruling, which he got wrong.
With 24days to go you have pledged £4,880.00 which is well on the way towards our £8,000 target.
There is still a way to go yet, so please keep sharing this link on your Facebook and Twitter asking your friends to share and retweet etc. https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/rightverdictforbethany/
Thank you and kind regards
Carole and Doug Shipsey
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