A Nottingham MP has called for an inquest 'to take place as swiftly as possible' nine months after one of her constituents died in Spain. Dad-of-two Tobias White-Sansom died in hospital five days after an alleged incident near a nightclub in Magaluf, on the Spanish island of Majorca.
And it was not until months later when his family finally announced a "huge step" in helping him "lie down in peace". Nottinghamshire entrepreneur Maximillian White, who has made his wealth from medicinal cannabis and owns a property on the holiday island of Mallorca, announced in October last year that his brother's body will return to the UK.
But now his family is fighting for another milestone - an inquest in the UK. Nadia Whittome, Labour MP for Nottingham East, has written the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Ministry of Justice, in an attempt to speed up the proceedings.
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She told Nottinghamshire Live: “It has been over nine months since Tobias’ death in harrowing circumstances, yet his family are still waiting for answers, let alone for those responsible to be held to account.
“I have written to the minister in charge of courts and legal services, urging that an inquest take place as swiftly as possible.” Ricardo Capone, Tobias' cousin, said the family will push for the case to be heard in the European Court,
"We have been told to expect somewhere in the region of seven years", he told Nottinghamshire Live. "But we expected the UK side of things to be much quicker.
"The UK legal system is good and efficient, usually. So we would have expected that the coroner had given us a date for the inquest already. That's why Nadia sent that letter over."
A spokesperson for the Coroner’s Officer for Staffordshire South said: “An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr Tobias Evald White-Sansom is ongoing.
"The Coroner’s Office for Staffordshire South is liaising with UK lawyers acting on behalf of the family, as an investigation is progressed towards holding an inquest. Officers and the HM Senior Coroner are working to review the investigation and continue to work with lawyers and their counterparts who are instructed outside of the UK.”
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