Judge death cause is questioned

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The doctor who held a post-mortem examination on a judge found dead in his burned shed could not say whether he was dead or not before the fire.

Andrew Chubb, 58, died in Somerset in 2001, with the cause of death put as burning following the post-mortem test. An inquest found it was accidental.

A second inquest is currently being held, after the judge's mistress won a High Court battle to reopen the case.

A forensic pathologist criticised the results of the post-mortem examination.

Dr Hugh White told the inquest at Glastonbury Town Hall on Wednesday that they were "insufficient", "confusing" and "did not make sense".

The Home Office forensic pathologist said it would be impossible, from the evidence in the findings, to come to the conclusion that Mr Chubb had burned to death.

The hospital post-mortem examination carried out after the death was conducted by Dr Charlotte Fisher, in 2001.

'Burned areas'

Dr White said: "While it is possible that [Chubb] has, as Dr Fisher concluded, died of burning, I feel there is insufficient information in her post-mortem report to find this conclusion.

"I would therefore disagree with her cause of death and find that her conclusion should have been unascertained."

Dr Fisher told the inquest that she could not rule out another cause of death or that Mr Chubb was dead beforehand.

Mrs Chubb and Ms Sparrow

She said it was impossible to draw definitive conclusions, claiming the body was too badly burned and that she would not have carried out the examination had she been told there were suspicious circumstances.

"When I saw the body I noted the most extensively burned areas were the feet and lower legs," she said. "I puzzled, however, over the hands for some time and saw that they had been burned at the same time. I concluded that they had been clasped together during an explosion.

"I was therefore comfortable with the findings that the death was accidental and as a result of burning.

"I cannot rule out another cause of death or that he was dead prior to the fire."

Judge Chubb's mistress of two years, Kerry Sparrow, a 38-year-old legal executive, last year successfully challenged an inquest held in December 2001.

She argued there was "a lack of sufficient inquiry" into the death at the first hearing and claimed the police investigation was flawed.

Later in the preoceedings, Ms Sparrow walked out of the court after refusing to read out a statement she gave to officers shortly after the fire.

Ms Sparrow claims she was heavily sedated, had been bullied by investigating officers and told the coroner that although she had signed the statement she had not read what was on the form.

The case continues.