Deborah Coles Executive Director Expand Deborah is the executive director of INQUEST, and has worked for the charity since 1989. She has a long track record of championing social justice and equality issues. 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 after state related deaths. She has been an independent expert advisor to numerous committees and inquiries and was the special advisor to Dame Elish Angiolini, the chair of the Independent Review of Deaths and Serious Incidents in Police Custody. Deborah is a regular media commentator, delivers conference papers nationally and internationally and is author of numerous articles and publications. She represents INQUEST as a member of the Ministerial Board on Deaths in Custody and is a member of the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody; she is also on the board of trustees of Clean Break Theatre Company and an advisor to Women in Prison.
Arnaud Vervoitte Operations and Development 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 the Deputy Chair of the Separated Child Foundation.
Anita Sharma Head of Casework Expand Anita is the Head of Casework and member of the Senior Management Team. She joined INQUEST in 2010 and has led on strategic interventions including Maughan and on deaths following police use of force. She has also worked on training and development and is an experienced group facilitator. Anita has over 30 years’ experience in the voluntary sector in management and advice roles including Refugee and Migrant Justice, Coventry Law Centre and is a former Chair of Panahghar’s Management Committee. Her interest in human rights and social justice stem from personal experiences of racism and discrimination and that of the wider Asian community in Leicester in the 70s and 80s.
Lucy McKay Media and Communications Manager Expand Lucy has worked with INQUEST since 2017 in roles across communications, media and policy. With a background in journalism, she 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. She previously worked as a policy officer at HM Inspectorate of Prisons and assisted in the co-ordination of the UK National Preventive Mechanism. She is also a trustee of the Independent Custody Visiting Association, and freelance communications and campaigns consultant, supporting small and grassroots organisations to push for social justice and change.
Rosanna Ellul Senior Policy and Parliamentary Officer Expand Rosanna joined INQUEST in 2021. She holds an MA in Human Rights from Goldsmiths, University of London and most recently worked at HM Inspectorate of Prisons where she worked to coordinate independent detention monitoring bodies to prevent ill-treatment in detention. Over the previous five years Rosanna worked with several other human rights organisations including Liberty and Project 17. From 2017 to 2020 she also worked as a voluntary researcher with the Refugee Council and University of Bradford on a project exploring the experiences of migrant women facing destitution while pregnant.
Selen Cavcav Senior 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.
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 Learning on Screen . She joined INQUEST as an opportunity to do finance work which supports social justice.
Mo Mansfield Family Participation Coordinator Expand Mo Mansfield join INQUEST in April 2019. She is a community organiser, advocate and feminist campaigner for prison abolition. Mo has more than 15 years experience working in the voluntary sector in both front-line and management positions at organisations such as Women at WISH, Women In Prison and the Women’s Resource Centre. Much of her work has focused on providing independent support to criminalised women from a social justice perspective. She is member of the Reclaim Justice Network; Reclaim Holloway; and is co-founder of the Holloway Prison Stories website. Mo was also part of the organising committee for Abolitionist Futures: the International Conference on Penal Abolition held in London in June 2018. Mo recently completed a MSc focused on improving services for people with personality disorders. She is also a Visiting Research Fellow with the Harm and Evidence Research Collaborative at the Open University
Rob Styles Casework and Administrative Assistant Expand Rob joined INQUEST in 2011 and provides administrative support to the casework team, wider 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.
Yohanah Rodney Caseworker Expand Yohanah became interested in the inquest process, in particular actions against the police, after the death of a family friend in police custody. She has always had an interest in human rights law but officially started to look into at depth whilst studying law at university. Yohanah joined INQUEST in 2018 as a Casework Volunteer and went on to be a Casework Assistant. In 2022, reflecting her skills and development, she became a Caseworker. She previously led on the building and maintenance of the INQUEST Library Online, a resource for members of the INQUEST Lawyers Group.
Jodie Anderson Senior Caseworker Expand Jodie joined INQUEST as a Caseworker in June 2020. Prior to this, she practiced as a criminal defence barrister at Garden Court Chambers and then in police complaints at Harrow Law Centre. She worked on death row in Texas in 2014 and has been involved in the criminal justice system ever since, with particular focus on youth justice and accountability. Jodie has followed INQUEST's work throughout her career, but became particularly invested following the death of a family member in prison. She is an active campaigner for refugee and migrant rights and volunteered as a lawyer in the Greek refugee camps in 2018.
Raekha Prasad Research and Policy Officer Expand Raekha Prasad is a research and policy officer at INQUEST with a specialist focus on state violence and structural racism. Raekha has worked as a journalist specialising in social rights issues for over two decades. She edited the women’s page in the Guardian and broke a number of stories on race, asylum, the criminal justice system and welfare rights. She was part of the Guardian/London School of Economics Reading the Riots project. She began her career at The Big Issue and spent five years as a foreign correspondent in Asia working for The Guardian, The Times and the BBC where she focused on gender discrimination, child labour and climate change. She is also a lecturer in journalism at Goldsmiths University.
Aniesha Obuobie Grenfell Project Coordinator Expand Aniesha is a current part-time Bar Vocational Studies student and previously worked as a Civil Liberties Paralegal at Birnberg Peirce and Hodge Jones & Allen Solicitors. In these roles she worked on group claims, including Grenfell, Hillsborough and the Lambeth Redress Scheme, inquests and individual Actions Against the Police cases. Aniesha has an LLM in Human Rights, Conflict and Justice, in which she focused particularly on women’s rights. After this she began volunteering with FORWARD (Foundation for Women’s Health and Research Development), an African-led organisation working to end violence against women and girls. She is currently a Trustee and has volunteered with FORWARD for 4 years. She joined INQUEST in October 2021 to coordinate the work on Grenfell, particularly the inquiry and supporting bereaved families and their legal teams.
Caroline Finney Caseworker Expand Caroline is an INQUEST Caseworker. She previously worked as a caseworker at the charity Advocate, where she assisted on cases covering all areas of law, developing her understanding of social welfare and public law. Having also worked for the anti-slavery organisation, International Justice Mission, and spent her childhood in Northern Ireland, Caroline is particularly interested in the mechanisms which aim to hold the state accountable.
Becky Higgins Caseworker Expand Becky joined INQUEST in October 2021 as a caseworker. She has a background in supporting LGBT+ victims and survivors of hate crime and institutional discrimination. As a trained advocate, Becky's career history has also included helping people to know and understand their rights in relation to the NHS and health services. She has also worked with refugees and people seeking asylum, and co-founded a youth support group for refugees under the age of 18 in her hometown of Northamptonshire. Becky has a background in supporting people who are often marginalised by systemic discrimination to have their voices heard, and currently also practices social documentary filmmaking, with a focus on public health and trauma informed storytelling.
Jessica Pandian Policy and Research Officer Expand Jessica joined INQUEST at the beginning 2021 as a researcher with specialist focus on state violence and structural racism. She now works as a policy and research officer with a broader focus. Jessica came to INQUEST from the Institute of Race Relations, where she researched the policing of the Black community and Black British history. She came across the work of INQUEST during her time at the Institute of Race Relations through interviewing bereaved families that had lost a relative following taser usage. Jessica has an MPhil in Latin American Studies from the University of Cambridge, in which she researched anti-Black policing, gang violence, and racial resistance across Latin America and the Caribbean. She is also interested in documentary filmmaking and is an advisor to the Independent Film Trust.
Mira Peliti Operations and Development Officer Expand Mira came to the UK from Southern Italy in 2011. She has a degree in Anthropology and Media from Goldsmiths and an MA in Translation Theory and Practice from University College London. She has substantial experience in the charity sector, including working with young asylum seekers and refugees, and at Citizens Advice, in both Operations and support roles. Mira joined INQUEST in 2022.
Naomi Oppenheim 40 Years of INQUEST Heritage Project Coordinator Expand Naomi is a historian of modern Britain and the Caribbean with five years’ experience in the cultural heritage sector. She recently completed her PhD on Caribbean publishing and activism at UCL and the British Library. Naomi has worked on several community history projects and is committed to using co-productive heritages practices as a channel to imagine and action more just and equitable futures. She joined in June 2022 to coordinate the project marking 40 years of INQUEST.
Daisy Daniell Casework Assistant Expand Daisy studied law at Manchester University, where she was heavily involved in supporting a local homeless charity as well as being on the Law Society’s Pro Bono committee. After graduating, she worked as a Criminal Defence and Extradition Paralegal at a London based law firm before relocating to Hong Kong where she worked as a consultant at a legal clinic for migrant workers and as a paralegal in a human rights law firm. She took up a voluntary position at her law firm’s sister charity, the Hong Kong Dignity Institute, an anti-human trafficking NGO where she was tasked with researching into sex and drug trafficking syndicates operating from Hong Kong. She returned to London in January 2022 and started working as a casework assistant for INQUEST. She is also the UK Human Rights Campaign Coordinator for her local Amnesty International group.