Family Statement Regarding Susan Norman
STATEMENT ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILY OF SUSAN NORMAN FOLLOWING THE INQUEST INTO HER DEATH HELD ON 7-25 NOVEMBER 2016:
We welcome the jury’s conclusion and findings that Cornwall Council ought to have known of the real and immediate risk to our mother’s life.
Our mother Susan Norman devoted her life to caring for others. Tragically she met her death because of a lack of care.
On the evidence we heard in the courtroom Cornwall Council were aware of water escaping from the highway into the properties on this road, and several other landslides had occurred on both sides of the house in which our mother was living. We also discovered that over a 7 year period before this tragedy the council had been approached about these issues on numerous occasions and were asked several times whether there was a danger to life, including enquiries from police officers and councillors, in addition to the local residents. But no one took any action to warn our mother or get her away from the danger. In the small hours of 22 March 2013 she paid the ultimate price for the failings of others.
We would like to thank the coroner and the jury for their efforts in the past 3 weeks, DS Keevil and his fellow police officers for their extraordinary work over the past 3 1/2 years, and the tireless efforts of the local residents and friends who continue to campaign to have these issues rectified.
We hope that Cornwall Council will urgently review its policy toward dealing with warnings like this and such tragedies can be avoided by other residents in similar situations.
Issued by Wolferstans Solicitors on behalf of Rachael Boden Matthew Boden Helen Hazeltine
25 November 2016