A coroner has reportedly had to recuse herself from an inquest over allegations of bias in an inquest concerning the death of a woman after she took the coronavirus vaccine.
Alison Norton, the assistant coroner for Derby - who was also accused of attempting to match with the deceased’s son on a dating app - denies all the allegations.
But the coroner recused herself from the inquest of Mohinder Kaur Mahal, who died after taking the Covid vaccine, after stating there could be a ‘perceived or apparent bias’. The 85-year-old died at Royal Derby Hospital from a stroke within days of being given the Pfizer Covid jab in October 2022.
Norton has been the subject of a complaint by Mahal’s family, who have argued important evidence showing a link between the vaccine and Mrs Mahals’s stroke was excluded by the coroner, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Mahal’s son also claims that Norton attempted to match with him on the dating website Bumble, an allegation which has been strenuously denied by the assistant coroner.
Norton recused herself from the inquest last month, saying she had received complaints ‘regarding my conduct of the inquest thus far, and my decision making. In addition, I have also received allegations about my personal/private conduct’.
She said, in a letter copied to the family, her decision should not be ‘construed as my acceptance of the complaints’. But she acknowledged the circumstances ‘may give rise to a suggestion, or appearance of perceived or apparent bias’.
Family members are representing themselves at the inquest and claim the assistant coroner failed to call a GP who they claim said the deceased should not have received the vaccine.
Coroners can recuse themselves if they believe the purpose of an investigation into a person’s death - which is to determine who the deceased was; how, when and where they came by their death and any particulars to be registered concerning the death - will be compromised by any perceived or apparent bias.
The Derbyshire Coroner’s office has been contacted for comment.
