Kate Blackwell KC

Inquests & Public Inquiries

Kate is recognised as a public inquiry expert.

Manchester Arena Inquiry

Kate has been instructed to represent NHS England in the Manchester Arena Inquiry –
an independent public inquiry to investigate the deaths of the 22 victims of the 2017 Manchester Terror Attack. www.manchesterarenainquiry.org.uk

Jermaine Baker Inquiry

Kate is Leading Counsel to the Jermaine Baker Inquiry – an independent public inquiry into the shooting of Jermaine Baker during a Metropolitan Police Service operation. www.gov.uk/government/publications/jermaine-baker-inquiry-terms-of-reference

Gosport Independent Panel

Kate was appointed by the Secretary of State for Health, as Lead Counsel and Panel Member to the Gosport Independent Panel in 2015. This Panel was constituted to examine and report on historical events which relate to the care, treatment and deaths of the patients of the Gosport War Memorial Hospital (GWMH) in Portsmouth. The Panel’s work was ongoing for four years and the Panel’s report was published in June 2018. It received wide media national and international coverage. The Panel revealed the “Patronising Disposition of Unaccountable Power” as it estimated that at least 450 lives had been shortened at the hospital by an unjustified opioid regime. As Legal Lead, Panel member and Law Team Manager she wrote and conducted the extensive legal validation of the complete project. www.gosportpanel.independent.gov.uk/panel-report

Daniel Morgan Independent Panel

On 10 May 2013, in a written statement to Parliament, the then Home Secretary, the
Rt. Hon.Theresa May MP, announced that the Government was setting up the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel (DMIP) to review police handling of the murder investigation. Kate was appointed as Counsel to the Panel in September 2013.

The remit of the Panel is to shine a light on the circumstances of Daniel Morgan’s murder, its background and the handling of the case over the period since 1987. In so doing the Panel is seeking to address questions arising, in particular those relating to police involvement in Daniel Morgan’s murder; the role played by police corruption in protecting those responsible for the murder from being brought to justice and the failure to confront that corruption; and the incidence of connections between private investigators, police officers and journalists at the News of the World and other parts of the media, and alleged corruption involved in the linkages between them.

Kate has negotiated with numerous organisations, including the Metropolitan Police Service, in ensuring maximum possible disclosure of material to the Panel, in accordance with the Terms of Reference. She has met with senior officers of the MPS and the NCA in order to consider confidential and secret information and drafted agreements to ensure the protection of documentation and other information. The final report is in the process of being drafted. www.danielmorganpanel.independent.gov.uk

The Shipman Inquiry

Represented the Greater Manchester Police as Junior Counsel during this protracted public inquiry.

8-week inquest touching the death of Paul McGuigan

Representing the National Offender Management Service in a case where a security operative employed by G4S in Iraq shot dead 2 colleagues.

Office of Rail Regulation

Prosecuting railway company convicted of breaching Health and Safety Offences where a disused depot had been left with live overhead cables causing the electrocution of a group of 13 year old boys, one of whom died.