Prevention of Future Deaths reports · 2018
Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths, reference 2018-0260, written 29 Aug 2018. A coroner writes one of these when an inquest reveals a risk that could cause further deaths unless something changes.
| Date of report | 29 Aug 2018 |
|---|---|
| Reference | 2018-0260 |
| Deceased | Henry Miller |
| Coroner | Maria Voisin |
| Coroner area | Avon |
| Category | Other related deaths |
| Source | judiciary.uk record · original PDF |
| Responses published | 1 |
Text recovered by OCR from a scanned PDF. OCR is imperfect: check anything you rely on against the source PDF. Reproduced verbatim, including the scan's own layout.
M. E. Voisin Her Majesty’s Senior Coroner Area of Avon 29th August 2018 REF: 4 REGULATION 28 REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS THIS REPORT IS BEING SENT TO: Foreign & Commonwealth Office Kings Charles Street London SW1A 2AH CORONER !am ME Voisin Senior Coroner for Area of Avon CORONER’S LEGAL POWERS | make this report under paragraph 7, Schedule 5, of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 and regulations 28 and 29 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013. http://www. legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2009/25/schedule/5/paragraph/7 http://www. legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/1629/part/7/made INVESTIGATION and INQUEST On 28/05/2014 | commenced an investigation into the death of Henry Jack MILLER. The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest. The conclusion of the inquest was: Accident CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE DEATH Henry Miller died on 23rd April 2014 at Vereda El Aguacate, Mocoa, Putumayo, Columbia. He died as a result of intoxication after consuming a psychoactive substance during a tribal ceremony. He was struggling to breathe after the ceremony and it was decided that he should be taken to hospital. On the way to the hospital he was left dead by the side of the road. CORONER’S CONCERNS During the course of the inquest the evidence revealed matters giving rise to concern. In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken. In the circumstances it is my statutory duty to report to you. The MATTERS OF CONCERN are as follows. — Many travellers go to this area of Columbia and some will consider participating in a tribal ceremony Telephone 01275 461920 Email AvonCoronersTeam @bristol.gov.uk Website www.avon-coroner.com The Coroner's Court, Old Weston Road, Flax Bourton, BS48 1UL when Yage will be consumed. Many will check with the FCO about any issues or warnings about their travel plans. | would therefore ask you to consider whether a warning or advice should be issued to such travellers exploring this area of Columbia so that they can receive well informed guidance before traveling and deciding whether it is safe to participate in such a ceremony. ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and | believe you have the power to take such action. YOUR RESPONSE You are under a duty to respond to this report within 56 days of the date of this report, namely by 26" October 2018. |, the Coroner, may extend the period. Your response must contain details of action taken or proposed to be taken, setting out the timetable for action. Otherwise you must explain why no action is proposed. COPIES and PUBLICATION | have sent a copy of my report to the Chief Coroner and to the following interested persons — the family of the deceased. | am also under a duty to send the Chief Coroner a copy of your response. The Chief Coroner may publish either or both in a complete or redacted or summary form. He may send a copy of this report to any person who he believes may find it useful or of interest. You may make representations to me, the coroner, at the time of your response, about the release or the publication of your response by the Chief Coroner. 29/08/2018 Signature M E Vatsin Senior Coroner Area of Avon Telephone 01275 461920 Email AvonCoronersTeam @bristol.gov.uk Website www.avon-coroner.com The Coroner's Court, Old Weston Road, Flax Bourton, BS48 1UL
1 response published against this report on judiciary.uk. A response is a body's written reply to the coroner's concerns; publication is at the discretion of the Chief Coroner's office, so an absent response does not mean nobody replied.
Consular Directorate Foreign & Foreign and Commonwealth Office Commonwealth King Charles Sree SW1A 2AA Office 28 September 2018 M E Voisin Her Majesty’s Senior Coroner, Area of Avon The Coroner’s Court Old Weston Road Flax Bourton BS48 1UL Dear Ms Voisin I am writing in response to your report dated 29 August 2018, following the inquest into the death of Henry Jack Miller on 23 April 2014 in Putumayo, Colombia. In your report, you note your concern that other British nationals could come to harm in similar circumstances in the future and recommend that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) issue a warning to prospective travellers. The safety of British nationals abroad is a paramount concern for the FCO. Through our foreign travel advice service, which we have provided since 1990, we aim to provide objective information and advice to help British nationals make informed decisions about foreign travel and enjoy safe, healthy and trouble-free trips abroad. We keep our travel advice under regular review to ensure it reflects our current assessment of risks and includes information on issues that may affect British nationals specifically. Colleagues at the British Embassy in Bogota have been following local developments in this case closely and we have been in contact with Mr Miller’s family. Following receipt of your report, our South America team finalised a review of our travel advice for Colombia and the wider region. We concluded that it was appropriate to include information on the risks of participating in spiritual cleansing ceremonies in our travel advice for Colombia and Bolivia. These updates were made on 31 August 2018. The extract from our travel advice for Colombia, found in the ‘Local laws and customs’ section, is as follows: Ayahuasca, or yage, is a traditional plant used in ‘spiritual cleansing’ ceremonies by indigenous communities in Colombia, primarily in Putamayo and the Amazon region. The yage ceremony typically involves the consumption of a brew containing dimethyltryptamine (DMT), an hallucinogenic drug. Consumption of this brew is not regulated and its interaction with existing medical conditions is not well understood. People have suffered serious illnésses and in-some cases death after participating in these ceremonies. Spiritual cleansing or yage retreats are usually some distance from populated areas, making it difficult to access medical attention for those who need it. Our full travel advice for Colombia, including information on areas of the country where we advise against travel, is available on the GOV. UK website: We continue to promote our travel advice through our established social media channels and our TravelAware prevention campaign, which is supported by a network of over 200 travel industry partners. Our travel advice for Colombia received over 280,000 unique page views in 2017. ; I hope that British nationals travelling to Colombia find this update to our travel advice useful in planning for a safe and healthy trip, and that similar tragic cases can be prevented as a result. Head of Consular Assistance Department Consular Directorate Foreign & Commonwealth Office
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