Deborah Coles Executive Director Expand Deborah is the executive director of INQUEST, and has worked for the charity since 1989. She leads INQUEST's strategic policy, legal and parliamentary work and has considerable expertise in working to prevent death and ill treatment in all forms of detention and for more effective accountable learning. She has been an independent expert adviser to numerous government committees and inquiries, is a regular media commentator, delivers conference papers nationally and internationally and is author of numerous articles and publications. She is also on the board of trustees of Clean Break and a special adviser to Women in Prison.
Arnaud Vervoitte Operations Director Expand Arnaud joined INQUEST in 2017. Born in France, he came to the UK in 1993 and graduated in politics, global politics and race relations. Arnaud has worked in social care since 1995, in a variety of roles, including casework and support work and, later on, in management and leadership positions in the charity sector. He worked in HIV/AIDS for eight years and with asylum seekers and refugees for 12 and has also been the managing director of Just for Kids Law, a legal charity supporting young people. Arnaud is a passionate campaigner on social justice issues, including anti-racism and the rights of refugees and migrants. He is a Trustee of the Separated Child Foundation.
Rebecca Roberts Head of Policy Expand Rebecca Roberts joined INQUEST in January 2018. Prior to working at INQUEST she was Senior Policy Associate at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. Rebecca is an experienced policy analyst and researcher and has worked across a range of fields including criminalisation, penal reform strategies, ethnicity, feminist perspectives, police and state violence. She holds an Msc in Criminal Justice Policy from the London School of Economics and is a founding member of the Reclaim Justice Network.
Lucy McKay Policy and Communications Officer Expand Lucy joined INQUEST in March 2017. Formerly a journalist, Lucy has a degree in Sociology and Politics and was an editor and organiser at STRIKE! Magazine. It was through a 2014 STRIKE! campaign on policing that Lucy came across INQUEST. After gaining relevant experience as policy officer at HM Inspectorate of Prisons and co-ordination assistant of the UK National Preventive Mechanism, Lucy came to INQUEST as policy and communications officer.
Rob Styles Administrative Officer Expand Rob joined INQUEST in 2011 and provides administrative support to the team in the office and to the INQUEST Lawyers Group. He is also a first point of contact for bereaved people getting in touch with INQUEST. He has previously worked in industry and as a paralegal in the field of human rights and is a committed trade unionist.
Anita Sharma Caseworker Expand Anita joined INQUEST as a caseworker in October 2010. Her interest in human rights and social justice led her to work as a legal advisor at the Coventry Law Centre for six years, while also volunteering at a women’s refuge. Anita then spent some time travelling before working as a special educational needs (SEN) teaching assistant in a secondary school. Prior to joining INQUEST, Anita worked at Refugee and Migrant Justice for ten years as a caseworker and team leader, supporting clients through the asylum process.
Victoria McNally Caseworker Expand Vic joined INQUEST as a caseworker in 2010. Qualifying as a lawyer in 1997, she has over 20 years’ experience in the not for profit sector, focusing on challenging injustice and systems of inequality through advice, campaigning and litigation. She spent 12 years at Brent Community Law Centre working with local people and community and voluntary sector groups on social welfare issues and spent a period working in New Orleans in the United States on death penalty cases. Her specialist areas include policing and mental health and deaths in mental health settings, with a particular focus on the deaths of children and the use of force and restraint.
Natasha Thompson Caseworker Expand Natasha joined INQUEST as a volunteer in 2014, becoming a casework assistant the following year and a caseworker in 2016. She became interested in human rights law whilst studying law at university. Her interest in the legal process following a death in custody developed when she began following a number of individual and joint family campaigns like the United Families and Friends Campaign (UFFC) and 4Wardeva. Through hearing the experience of families and friends affected and wanting to contribute she began following the work of INQUEST.
Shona Crallan Caseworker Expand Shona joined INQUEST as a caseworker in July 2014. She qualified as a solicitor in 2010 after being admitted to the New York Bar in 2005. She studied a law masters at Columbia University where she focused on human rights and juvenile justice, and has worked at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Hickman & Rose Solicitors. She was a caseworker at Newham Monitoring Project where she advised and supported victims of discrimination by the state, and worked with bereaved families of those who died in state custody. She is a CEDR accredited mediator.
Selen Cavcav Caseworker Expand Selen joined INQUEST as a caseworker in 2010. She was born in Turkey and lived there until 1990. She graduated in Sociology and Law and then worked at the Refugee Legal Centre for ten years, representing asylum seekers and refugees at Immigration Tribunals. Selen has a special focus on deaths of women in prison and is fully committed to women's issues. She is trustee of Imece Women’s Centre. She has two children and lives in North London.
Sarah Uncles Policy and Communications Assistant Expand Sarah joined INQUEST as Policy and Communications Intern in October 2017, and now works as an assistant. She previously worked as Project Assistant for the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies after graduating from Bristol University in Politics and Sociology. Whilst at university, she was an Independent Monitoring Board member at Bristol Prison and involved with various social justice campaigns. She is now studying a masters in Human Rights at Birkbeck.
Remy Mohamed Grenfell Project Coordinator Expand Remy joined INQUEST as a volunteer caseworker in May 2017 and became the Grenfell Project Coordinator in November 2017. She qualified as a Solicitor in 2005 and has over 12 years of experience in criminal defence law specialising in representing children and vulnerable adults. She is passionate about Human Rights, The Rule of Law and Access to Justice. She volunteers with a number of community outreach projects and is criminal justice system sub lead for the Association of Muslim Lawyers.
Bola Awogboro Casework Assistant Expand Bola joined the INQUEST team in October 2017. After studying the Graduate Diploma in Law she gained experience with The Poppy Project and the Anti-Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit, supporting victims of trafficking in accessing legal advice. She became familiar with INQUEST having previously worked at Bhatt Murphy Solicitors in an administrative role. She has a particular interest in women’s rights and their engagement with the criminal justice system.
Christine Woollett Administrative Support Expand Christine joined Inquest in 2017 to provide administrative support to Deborah and the team. Christine worked in governmental and grass roots organisations in Argentina for 20 years. In the UK she has worked for the Royal Society, King’s College London and Just for Kids Law.
Tanya Karastoyanova Finance Officer Expand Tanya joined INQUEST as Finance Officer in June 2017. She holds an AAT Accounting Qualification (MAAT) and has previously worked for accountancy practices and SME businesses. Tanya is also currently working for Just for Kids Law. She joined INQUEST as an opportunity to do finance work which supports social justice.
Christian Weaver Casework Assistant Expand Christian joined the INQUEST team in October 2017. He was Called to the Bar in 2016 and worked as a pro-bono Legal Adviser throughout his studies. He has previously supported the work of The Railway Children as a legal intern and as a volunteer at Liberty, responding to queries from the public about their rights. Christian sat as UK Youth Delegate to the Congress of the Council of Europe 2017.
Ayesha Carmouche Family Participation and Support Officer Expand A former INQUEST employee, Ayesha returned to the organisation in 2018 to support families' involvement in INQUEST's public influencing work. Alongside this, she coordinates the UK work for the intercultural charity, Encompass. Ayesha has an MA in Politics from the University of Glasgow and an MA in European Social Policy from the London School of Economics. She was previously the Advocacy and Communication Manager for a network of NGOs focusing on business and human rights, Ayesha also led the advocacy work for ActionAid in the Palestinian territories.