City’s senior Coroner suspended from role after sexual harassment claims made against him

A senior coroner has been suspended due to allegations of sexual harassment and other claims. It is understood that several female members of staff in the man’s office have complained about his alleged behaviour.

Manchester Evening News reports that the complaints about Nigel Meadows concern alleged inappropriate comments about clothing and alleged inappropriate staring.

The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO), which is responsible for investigating complaints against judicial officers, including coroners, today confirmed he has been suspended as part of an ongoing investigation.

Concerns were raised back in April 2021 about his conduct and capacity to do the job and there were calls for Mr Meadows to be suspended.

But he continued to oversee inquests in Manchester for the next 23 months until his suspension.

It is understood that the decision to suspend the senior coroner came after Manchester town hall carried out a “risk assessment” into the accusations of sexual harassment against him.

The findings were then passed to the JCIO.

Last month the MP for the Blackley and Broughton constituency in Manchester, Graham Stringer, raised the issue in Parliament about a coroner being “subject to accusations of sexual harassment”.

Mr Stringer did not name the person subject to the allegations but it is thought he was referring to Mr Meadows.

He said in the Commons: “It gives me no pleasure at all to say that if the coroners’ service in Manchester was a school or hospital trust, it would be in special measures.

“The coroners’ service is statistically bottom of the list in England.

“The reason for this appears to be that the coroner’s mental capacity has been challenged and he is subject to accusations of sexual harassment. I make no judgement about the validity of those claims, only about the time it is taking to resolve them.

“Those issues have been outstanding for two years. Bereaved families in Manchester need a better service.”

Mr Stringer went on to say: “Will the leader of the house arrange for a debate in government time on how issues like mental capacity and like matters of internal discipline can be made more efficient and happen more quickly?”

In April 2021 a formal complaint on behalf of Manchester Council was made to the JCIO, asking for an investigation into Mr Meadows’s conduct. The complainants also called for his “interim suspension”.

The complaint, by area coroner Zak Golombeck and Manchester Council’s most senior lawyer, solicitor Fiona Ledden, raised concerns about five “specific areas” of Mr Meadows’s conduct.

The areas included comments that Mr Meadows had made both within inquests and outside of proceedings, and behaviour which Mr Golombeck and Ms Ledden described as “bizarre”.

The complaint concluded: “We submit that the conduct referred to above warrants investigation and sanction… we cannot see how [Mr Meadows] can return to performing his duties and administering justice. We reiterate our request that NM is suspended with immediate effect pending an investigation.”

Today the JCIO said Mr Meadows had been suspended by the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice pending the outcome of the investigation.

A Manchester Council spokesperson said: “We understand that the senior coroner has been suspended. It would not be appropriate to comment further while JCIO proceedings are ongoing.”

Mr Meadows has not responded to Manchester Evening News’s request for comment.