The
death
of
Cyril
Mark
Isaacs
|
|
|
|
| Introduction |
|
|
|
| This
chapter
describes
the
circumstances
of
Mr
Isaacs'
death
and
events
that
followed
in
the
interval
before
his
burial
the
following
day.
|
|
|
|
Sources
of
information
|
|
|
|
- Mrs
Isaacs'
statement
for
the
Chief
Medical
Officer's
Summit;
|
Annex
1
|
- witness
statements
at
the
inquest
into
Mr
Isaacs'
death;
|
Annexes
9,
10,
11,
12,
13
|
- records
provided
by
Greater
Manchester
police;
|
|
- recollections
of
Mrs
Isaacs,
Dr
Rosenberg,
Dr
Farrand
and
Mr
Walkden.
|
|
|
|
Background
|
|
|
|
| Although
the
starting
point
of
this
investigation
is
the
death
of
Mr
Isaacs
on
26 February
1987,
aged
54,
it
is
important
to
include
in
the
record
some
relevant
details
of
his
mental
health
shortly
before
his
death.
This
is
to
provide
the
context
for
concerns
expressed
later
by
his
family.
It
is
also
important
to
emphasise
Mr
Isaacs'
and
his
family's
religious
beliefs.
The
disregard
of
Mr
Isaacs'
mental
health
problems
before
his
death,
and
of
his
religious
beliefs,
became
the
cause
of
great
distress
to
Mrs Isaacs
and
her
son,
Austin.
|
|
|
|
Mr
Isaacs'
health
|
|
|
|
| In
the
five
months
before
his
untimely
death,
Mr
Isaacs
had
experienced
depressive
mental
illness
and
had
been
under
medical
care
from
a
number
of
both
private
and
NHS
doctors.
He
had
taken
three
overdoses,
two
of
these
in
the
same
weekend
within
one
month
of
his
death.
Mr
Isaacs
had
also
received
in-patient
psychiatric
care
as
a
voluntary
patient.
He
had
been
prescribed
medication
at
the
time
of
his
death
and
was
due
to
see
his
general
practitioner,
Dr
Rosenberg,
on
27
February.
|
Annex
1
|
|
|
Mr
Isaacs'
religious
beliefs
|
|
|
|
| Mr
Isaacs
and
his
family
are
Orthodox
Jews
and
follow
the
observation
of
Jewish
Law.
|
|
|
|
| The
afternoon
of
Thursday
26
February
1987
|
|
|
|
| In
the
early
afternoon
of
26
February
Mrs
Isaacs
made
an
emergency
call
to
the
police,
as
she
had
been
frightened
after
her
husband
had
grabbed
her
wrists.
The
police
had
had
to
trace
the
telephone
call
after
Mr
Isaacs
pulled
the
telephone
plug
from
its
socket
whilst
Mrs
Isaacs
was
starting
to
speak.
Calm
was
restored
by
the
time
the
police
arrived.
Mrs
Isaacs
shortly
after
telephoned
a
friend,
Mrs Eunice Foster,
who
came
to
see
both
Mr
and
Mrs
Isaacs.
Not
long
after
Mrs Foster
had
left,
Mr
Isaacs
for
the
second
time
that
day
grabbed
his
wife's
wrists.
Mrs
Isaacs
decided
she
would
stay
that
night
at
Mrs
Foster's
house
as
she
lived
nearby.
|
|
Later
that
afternoon
Mrs
Isaacs
needed
to
return
home
to
collect
some
overnight
clothes.
As
she
was
concerned
about
going
home
on
her
own,
she
asked
the
late
Mr Clive
Lingard,
a
relative,
to
accompany
her
to
the
house.
|
|
|
|
| On
arrival
Mrs
Isaacs
noticed
that
the
downstairs
rooms
were
in
darkness
but
there
was
a
light
on
upstairs.
After
entering
the
house
Mrs
Isaacs
asked
Mr
Lingard
to
go
upstairs
and
switch
the
light
off.
Mr
Lingard
proceeded
up
the
staircase
as
requested,
but
immediately
turned
round
and
guided
Mrs
Isaacs
into
the
kitchen
saying
at
the
same
time
there
had
been
a
terrible
accident,
or
words
to
that
effect.
Mr
Lingard
immediately
telephoned
for
the
police
and
while
awaiting
their
arrival
prevented
Mrs Isaacs
from
going
to
the
staircase.
|
|
|
|
| Two
police
officers
attended
in
response
to
Mr
Lingard's
999
call
at
7.00pm,
arriving
at
the
house
within
minutes.
WPC
Sharon
Rigby,
one
of
the
officers,
later
wrote
the
report
of
the
visit
and
provided
a
statement
for
the
Coroner.
This
statement
formed
part
of
the
evidence
considered
at
the
inquest.
Although
every
effort
was
made
to
identify
the
second
police
officer
in
attendance,
this
has
not
been
possible.
The
documents
that
still
exist
do
not
mention
the
name
or
number
of
the
second
officer.
|
|
|
|
|
| Soon
after
the
arrival
of
the
police
Mrs
Isaacs
was
told
that
her
husband
was
dead.
His
body,
which
had
been
found
suspended
through
the
hatch
into
the
loft,
was
taken
down.
At
7.50pm
Dr
Abendstern,
the
duty
police
surgeon,
confirmed
that
life
was
extinct.
|
Annex
9
|
|
|
|
| A
fuller
account
of
events
as
recalled
by
Mrs
Isaacs
is
at
Annex
1.
|
Annex
1
|
|
|
| First
mention
of
a
post
mortem |
|
|
|
| While
awaiting
the
arrival
of
the
police
surgeon,
Mrs
Isaacs
was
required
to
remain
in
the
kitchen
in
the
company
of
WPC
Rigby.
When
Mrs
Isaacs
tried
to
leave
the
kitchen
she
was
restrained
from
so
doing.
During
this
time,
the
probability
of
a
post
mortem
to
determine
the
cause
of
death
was
first
mentioned.
|
|
|
|
| Mrs
Isaacs
replied
that
Jewish
Law
forbade
post
mortems
and,
as
the
cause
of
death
was
obvious,
no
post
mortem
was
needed
to
find
out
why
Mr
Isaacs
had
died.
|
|
|
|
| When
Mrs
Isaacs
was
informed
that
Mr
Isaacs'
body
would
be
removed
to
the
mortuary
she
pointed
out
that
in
accordance
with
Jewish
Law
his
body
should
remain
in
the
house
so
that
prayers
could
be
said.
A
person
of
the
Jewish
faith
should
also
be
present
to
sit
with
Mr
Isaacs'
body
during
the
night
prior
to
burial,
which
must
take
place
the
following
day.
|
|
|
|
| Mrs
Isaacs
also
asked
the
police
if
they
would
be
contacting
the
hospitals
where
her
husband
had
been
a
patient.
The
police
asked
her
for
details
of
Mr
Isaacs'
general
practitioner.
Mrs
Isaacs
advised
that
Dr
Bethel
Rosenberg
was
the
family
general
practitioner.
Mrs
Isaacs
believed
that
Dr
Rosenberg
would
be
able
to
confirm
to
the
police
and
the
Coroner
that
no
post
mortem
was
necessary
because
of
Mr
Isaacs'
mental
illness
prior
to
and
at
the
time
of
his
death
and
in
view
of
Mr
Isaacs'
religious
beliefs.
|
|
|
|
| Monday
2
March
1987
was
mentioned
by
the
police
as
the
likely
date
of
the
post
mortem.
Mrs
Isaacs
stressed
to
the
police
that
her
husband
had
to
be
buried
as
soon
as
possible
the
following
day,
Friday
27
February,
in
order
to
meet
the
requirements
of
Jewish
Law.
|
|
|
|
| Mrs
Isaacs
spoke
to
Dr
Rosenberg
on
the
telephone.
He
was
unable
to
attend
and
recommended
that
Mrs
Isaacs
should
have
an
injection
so
that
she
would
sleep.
Dr Rosenberg
would
have
arranged
for
this
but
Mrs
Isaacs
did
not
wish
to
receive
sedation.
|
|
|
|
| While
the
police
records
of
what
was
said
to
Mrs
Isaacs
no
longer
exist,
in
the
interval
before
Mr
Isaacs'
body
was
removed
from
the
house,
Mrs
Isaacs
was
asked
a
number
of
questions
by
the
police
and
a
statement
was
obtained
from
her.
|
|
|
|
| It
was
Mrs
Isaacs'
wish
that
their
son,
Austin,
should
arrive
home
before
his
father's
body
was
removed.
While
the
police
were
continuing
their
immediate
investigations,
arrangements
were
made
through
a
relative
for
Austin
to
return
home
from
University
in
London.
However,
he
was
not
able
to
arrive
until
the
early
hours
of
the
following
morning
due
to
distance
and
time
factors.
Austin
was
distressed
when
he
arrived
home
and
angry
that
his
father's
body
had
been
taken
from
the
house
without
the
permission
of
the
family.
|
|
|
|
Removal
of
Mr
Isaacs'
body
to
Prestwich
mortuary
|
|
|
|
| Once
the
police
had
fully
documented
the
scene
of
Mr
Isaacs'
death,
his
body
was
removed
to
the
mortuary
at
Prestwich
Hospital
which
at
that
time
served
both
as
a
hospital
and
public
mortuary.
The
firm
of
local
undertakers
on
duty
for
the
police
were
called
to
convey
the
body
to
the
mortuary.
The
time
of
arrival
was
logged
in
the
mortuary
at
20.45(1).
Mrs
Isaacs
was
unaware
that
undertakers
had
been
called
to
transfer
Mr
Isaacs'
body
as
she
had
assumed
an
ambulance
would
be
called
for
this
purpose.
|
|
|
|
| As
Mr
Isaacs'
death
was
'unnatural',
the
police
reported
his
death
to
the
office
of
the
Coroner
for
North
Manchester
Police
District.
|
|
|
|
| Mrs
Isaacs
was
later
to
complain
that
on
the
day
of
Mr
Isaacs'
death,
her
rights
and
those
of
her
husband
had
been
violated
in
the
following
ways:
|
|
|
|
- the
police
had
unnecessarily
restrained
her
in
the
kitchen
while
they
investigated
her
husband's
death
upstairs;
|
|
- there
was
no
justification
for
the
removal
of
Mr
Isaacs'
body
from
the
house
until
her
son
had
returned
home;
|
|
- removal
of
Mr
Isaacs'
body
to
Prestwich
mortuary
prevented
the
observance
of
the
requirements
of
Jewish
Law;
|
|
-
she
was
required
to
sign
a
statement,
the
contents
of
which
did
not
reflect
the
words
she
had
used
when
speaking
to
the
police.
This
statement
was
taken
at
a
time
when
Mrs
Isaacs
was
greatly
distressed
and
she
believes
she
signed
under
duress,
as
it
contained
information
that
was
not
factually
correct;
|
|
-
in
respect
of
the
foregoing
point,
Mrs
Isaacs
is
clear
that
she
did
not
see
her
husband's
body
before
it
was
removed
from
the
family
home
and
therefore
she
could
not
have
identified
him
as
she
had
been
prevented
from
going
upstairs
by
the
police
before
the
removal
of
Mr
Isaacs'
body;
|
|
-
no
one
told
her
that
the
Coroners
Rules
enabled
her
to
have
an
independent
representative
at
the
post
mortem.
|
|
|
|
| These
are
not
matters
that
come
within
the
scope
of
my
investigation,
but
Chapter
45
is
relevant
to
the
observance
of
religious
rituals
when
these
do
not
interfere
with
the
investigation
undertaken
for
the
Coroner.
|
|
|
|
| Friday
27
February
1987
|
|
|
|
| Early
in
the
morning
the
police
contacted
Mrs
Isaacs
to
say
that
the
post
mortem
would
take
place
on
Monday
2
March
but
that
she
should
attend
the
Coroner's
Court
in
Rochdale
that
morning
for
the
opening
of
the
inquest
into
the
death
of
her
husband.
|
|
|
|
| Mrs
Isaacs
again
pointed
to
the
requirement
in
Jewish
Law
that
the
burial
should
take
place
that
day.
The
fact
that
Mr
Isaacs
was
Jewish
must
then
have
been
recognised
by
a
member
of
the
Coroner's
staff
as
arrangements
were
made
for
the
post
mortem
to
be
brought
forward,
and
the
examination
took
place
at
11.00am(1).
|
|
|
|
| The
Chazan
from
the
Whitefield
and
Hebrew
Synagogues,
of
which
the
Isaacs
family
were
members,
came
round
in
the
early
morning
to
see
Mrs
Isaacs
and
her
son,
Austin.
The
Chazan
also
spoke
to
the
Coroner's
office
to
arrange
a
time
for
the
burial.
This
call
was
made
from
Mrs
Isaacs'
home
as
she
was
leaving
to
go
to
the
Coroner's
Court.
|
|
|
|
| Post
mortem
examinations
undertaken
for
the
Coroner
at
Prestwich
mortuary
were
normally
scheduled
for
3.00pm.
However,
the
rescheduling
of
the
post
mortem
followed
an
established
procedure
when
the
deceased
was
Jewish,
through
which
the
Coroner's
office
in
Rochdale
would
try
to
arrange
for
the
post
mortem
to
be
brought
forward
to
enable
the
burial
to
take
place
the
same
day,
as
required
by
Jewish
Law.
|
|
|
|
| Meanwhile,
the
synagogue
at
which
Mr
Isaacs
worshipped,
and
the
Burial
Board
to
which
he
subscribed,
had
set
in
train
the
arrangements
for
his
burial
according
to
Orthodox
Jewish
Rites.
As
27
February
was
a
winter
Friday,
it
would
be
particularly
important
that
the
burial
was
concluded
before
the
start
of
the
Sabbath.
|
|
|
|
| Later
in
the
morning
Dr
Rosenberg
called
at
the
family
home.
|
|
|
|
| The
Coroner's
office
instructed
Dr
R
J
Farrand
to
carry
out
the
post
mortem.
Dr Farrand
was
the
pathologist
who
in
1987
carried
out
most
of
the
Coroner's
post
mortems
at
Prestwich
mortuary.
Mr
Isaacs'
body
was
identified
to
Dr
Farrand
by
WPC
Rigby,
who
had
been
in
attendance
the
previous
evening.
Mr
Denis
Walkden,
the
mortician
at
Prestwich
Hospital,
is
the
only
other
person
known
to
have
been
present
at
the
post
mortem.
|
|
|
|
| None
of
those
who
were
present
at
the
post
mortem
can
now
recall
the
examination
of
Mr
Isaacs
and
the
removal
of
his
brain,
see
Chapter
2.
The
time
of
removal
of
Mr Isaacs'
brain
is,
however,
clearly
recorded
as
11.15am
in
the
brain
books
held
in
Manchester
University.
It
is
clear
that
the
brain
was
not
returned
to
Mr
Isaacs'
body.
|
|
|
|
| Goldfines,
the
Jewish
undertakers
in
Manchester,
were
waiting
at
Prestwich
mortuary
to
receive
Mr
Isaacs'
body
before
the
post
mortem
examination
was
completed.
On
completion,
the
body
was
released
by
the
Coroner
into
the
care
of
Goldfines
so
that
the
proper
rituals
of
the
Jewish
faith
could
be
undertaken
before
burial.
|
|
|
|
| In
accordance
with
practice
in
1987,
a
telephone
call
would
have
been
made
from
the
mortuary
to
the
Coroner's
office
to
inform
the
Coroner
that
the
cause
of
death
had
been
established,
before
the
body
was
released.
No
record
exists
of
the
time
of
this
call.
|
|
|
|
| Mr
Isaacs'
funeral
took
place
in
accordance
with
Jewish
rites
at
3.30pm.
|
|
|
|
| When
Mr
Isaacs
was
buried
his
family
were
totally
unaware
that
his
brain
had
been
inappropriately
retained
without
their
knowledge
or
agreement.
Had
the
family
been
asked,
consent
would
have
been
refused
for
retention
of
his
brain
for
any
purpose,
in
accordance
with
Mr
Isaacs'
religious
beliefs
and
Jewish
Law.
In
fact,
as
subsequent
chapters
describe,
the
brain
had
been
retained
solely
for
research
at
Manchester
University,
see
Chapter
3.
The
legal
position,
including
the
Human
Tissue
Act,
are
described
in
Chapter
5.
|
|
|
|
Summary
|
|
|
|
| Mr
Isaacs
was
found
dead
by
the
late
Mr
C
Lingard
shortly
before
7.00pm
on
26 February
1987.
|
|
|
|
| On
hearing
that
a
post
mortem
was
likely,
Mrs
Isaacs
pointed
out
that
this
conflicted
with
her
husband's
religious
beliefs
as
an
Orthodox
Jew.
|
|
|
|
| The
post
mortem
examination
ordered
by
the
Coroner
was
brought
forward
in
recognition
of
Mr
Isaacs'
Jewish
belief
to
11.00am
on
27
February.
|
|
|
|
| Mr
Isaacs
was
buried
before
sunset
that
day
in
accordance
with
Jewish
rites.
|
|
|
|
Mr
Isaacs'
family
were
unaware
that
his
brain
had
been
inappropriately
retained
for
research
at
Manchester
University.
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| References |
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| 1 Entry
in
the
Prestwich
Mortuary
Register
of
Outside
Deaths.
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