No Truth No Justice: A David and Goliath Story of a Mother's Successful Struggle Against Public Authorities to Secure Justice for Her Son Murdered While in Their Care Book

In 1994, Christopher Edwards was found dead in his cell at Chelmsford Prison battered beyond recognition by a paranoid schizophrenic prisoner with whom Christopher -...

This is a David and Goliath story of a mother's successful struggle against public authorities to secure justice for her son murdered while in their care. In 1994, Christopher Edwards was found dead in his cell at Chelmsford Prison battered beyond recognition by a paranoid schizophrenic prisoner with whom Christopher - himself also mentally ill - had been made to share a cell. The tragedy occurred despite the fact that information was in the pipeline that his assailant presented an exceptional risk to other people. For the next eight years Christopher's parents, Audrey and Paul Edwards, sought truth and justice at every turn.What they encountered was a wall of officialdom and red tape: sometimes accompanied by a culture which served to exclude them at key stages and which was often indifferent to their needs as a bereaved family and as victims. This ranged from silence to misleading information, obstruction, insensitive treatment and an attitude of self-preservation - leading in turn to suspicion and mistrust across the board at the way public responsibilities were being discharged. Undeterred, Audrey and Paul Edwards ceaselessly challenged the official responses and the legal and other processes which had relegated them to the sidelines. Ultimately, with the assistance of the civil rights organization Liberty, they sought redress in the European Court of Human Rights where in 2002 it was established that the UK Government had denied Christopher his right to life and the criminal justice, mental health and inquiry arrangements were found wanting at various points."No Truth, No Justice" is Audrey Edwards' personal account of these events from the day that a police officer knocked on her door with news of her son's death. It is the story of a ceaseless and arduous campaign imbued with lessons and warnings about the way individual rights are always at risk of being over-ridden by the state machine. It describes a David and Goliath struggle in which decency, openness and proper treatment are placed under scrutiny and some individuals may have escaped their just deserts. The book also acknowledges the supreme efforts of certain dedicated individuals to preserve the always fragile integrity of public services and - on an equally constructive note - makes a number of recommendations for preventing similar tragedies in future.