St John’s Buildings Barrister Among the Youngest Coroners at Just 31

Laura Nash, barrister at St John’s Buildings, has become one of the UK’s youngest coroners, having been appointed Assistant Coroner at Oldbury Coroner’s Court at the age of 31.

Laura, who was called to the Bar in 2009, has extensive experience dealing with inquests, having acted for both interested parties and families. She has built a strong criminal and prison law practice, specialising in deaths in custody.

In 2015, she acted for the family of Neal Price following his death at HMP Forest Bank in Salford, as well as recently acting for Manchester Airport Group following the death of a passenger on a flight. She also has considerable experience of acting on cases across criminal and regulatory law, including health and safety, fraud, animal cruelty and sexual offences.

Laura will combine her new role with her existing practice, as she continues to build on her inquest expertise.

Laura Nash said: “It’s a huge honour to be appointed as a coroner at such a young age, and is testament to the support given to me by St John’s Buildings in the six years I have been in Chambers.

“In addition to the decision-making responsibilities, empathy and understanding is at the heart of being a coroner, working to help get to the bottom of what can be tragic circumstances. I have seen first-hand how important inquests can be in providing closure to bereaved parents and partners as well as for agencies to learn lessons from events, and these will be my objectives in this new role.”

(Source: St. John’s Buildings)