Mother's last bid for 'justice' over son's death (From Times Series)

Mother's last bid for 'justice' over son's death

8:41am Tuesday 13th May 2008

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The mother of a British student who died mysteriously in Germany five years ago has challenged the Attorney General's decision to deny a second inquest.

Jeremiah Duggan, 22, from Golders Green, was found dead on a motorway in Wiesbaden, on March 27, 2003, after attending an anti-war protest.

German police concluded that the student had committed suicide by running into the road, but doubts have been cast on this verdict.

The first inquest, in November 2003, found that Mr Duggan had been hit by two cars and was in a "state of terror" when he died.

Ten weeks ago the Attorney General refused his mother Erica Duggan's request to open a second inquest, prompting her to take legal action.

Mrs Duggan, 61, said: "This is most unfair as there has not been a proper investigation in both Germany and Britain and I am left not knowing the true cause of my son's death, nor the circumstances of that death.

"What is this really about? If there is nothing to hide then why can't we see justice being done?"

A spokesman for Law firm Leigh Day & Co, which lodged the challenge on Friday, said: "In our view, the evidence of these experts clearly shows that there is a real possibility that a fresh inquest would result in a different verdict and that therefore the Attorney General's refusal is wholly irrational."

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