The parents of Christopher Edwards, who was killed by a mentally ill prisoner in a Chelmsford prison cell, are this week calling on the Home Secretary to establish at last an independent inquiry into their son's death - nearly eight years on

In March, Paul and Audrey Edwards won a historic judgment against the UK Government on three counts in the European Court of Human Rights. The Court ruled that the British authorities failed to protect the life of Christopher Edwards - and failed to investigate and give his family proper access to open and rigorous investigation and a remedy in the courts.
The implications for the way mentally-ill people are treated in the criminal justice system - and for the way in which investigations into deaths are handled - should be far-reaching. But the first step needs to be an open and independent inquiry into what went wrong in Christopher Edwards' case.

Now, in a letter to the Home Secretary from their Liberty solicitor Nancy Collins, Mr and Mrs Edwards request that an independent public inquiry be set up as soon as possible to fully investigate the circumstances surrounding their son's death.

They note that in the European Court, the UK Government itself cited the case of R (Wright) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department - in which the High Court held that the Home Office has a continuing obligation to investigate a death in custody that occurred before the Human Rights Act. The Government argued that Mr and Mrs Edwards were within the scope of this decision. Mr and Mrs Edwards are now asking the Government to fulfil the continuing obligation to investigate which it has already accepted exists.

Paul and Audrey Edwards said: "The European Court delivered justice for Christopher and for his family subject to the Government following its ruling. The Government must now do that. And the fact remains that, nearly eight years later, we still don't know exactly what went wrong and why. The European Court couldn't tell us that - only a fully independent public inquiry can".

Nancy Collins, the Liberty solicitor who took their case to the European Court, said: "The European Court put the obligation firmly on the UK authorities to ensure that a tragedy like this doesn't happen again - and that if it does, it is openly investigated and lessons are learned. Nearly two months after the Court's damning criticisms, the Home Office has yet to say exactly what will be done.

"The Government must ensure better, safer assessment and treatment of mentally-ill people in the criminal justice system, particularly in prison. It should make statutory investigations into all deaths in custody mandatory".

Mr & Mrs Edwards also noted ACPO's recommendation last week that drug addicts who offend should be seen as needing treatment rather than punishment: "The same principle should apply to mentally-disordered offenders who don't take illegal drugs".