Pubdate: Wed, 04 Oct 2006
Source: Daily Telegraph (UK)
Copyright: 2006 Telegraph Group Limited
Contact:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/114
Author: Sally Pook

FAMILY OF RACHEL WHITEAR WIN RIGHT TO NEW INQUEST

The family of a young heroin addict whose photograph  was used to 
educate schoolchildren about the dangers of  drugs today won a fresh 
inquest into her death.

The photograph of Rachel Whitear as used in an  anti-drugs campaign

Rachel Whitear, 21, a former Bath University student,  was found dead 
six years ago after apparently taking a  heroin overdose in her flat 
in Exmouth, Devon.

Police initially treated the case as a routine overdose  and she was 
buried before a post mortem or toxicology  tests were conducted.

Her mother and stepfather allowed pictures of her  bloated body, with 
an empty syringe in her hand, to be  used in a video called Rachel's 
Story, which was shown  in schools to highlight drug dangers.

But they argued that there had been a failure to carry  out a "full, 
fair and fearless" investigation into her  death.

An inquest in December 2000 recorded an open verdict,  leaving the 
cause of death as "unascertained".

At the High Court in London today Rachel's mother and  stepfather, 
Pauline and Mick Holcroft, backed a move by  Wiltshire Police for a 
court order overturning the  original verdict.

Two High Court judges later gave the go-ahead for the  new inquest, 
which will be heard before a different  coroner in a different district

Afterwards, Mrs Holcroft said: "Even from the very day  that Rachel's 
body was discovered, we were never  entirely happy that everything 
possible was being done  to try and discover exactly why and how she had died.

"There was always a nagging suspicion that her death  had been 
regarded as just one more inconsequential  drugs statistic."
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