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. Deborah represents INQUEST as a member of the Ministerial Board on Deaths in Custody and is independently a member of the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody; she is also on the board of trustees of Clean Break and a special adviser 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 a Trustee of the Separated Child Foundation.
Louise Finer Head of Policy Expand Louise came to INQUEST from HM Inspectorate of Prisons where she worked as Head of Secretariat for the National Preventive Mechanism. Louise worked with 21 independent detention monitoring and inspection bodies around the UK to strengthen their efforts to meet international obligations for preventing the ill treatment of detainees. For HMIP she also developed policy and parliamentary work and advised on human rights. Prior to these roles Louise worked in international NGOs, including Amnesty International and the Centre for Reproductive Rights, in a range of research and advocacy roles. Louise spent several years living and working in South America, working with human rights organisations and supporting the prisons team of the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Louise is a visiting fellow at the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex.
Anita Sharma Head of Casework 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.
Natasha Thompson Grenfell Project Coordinator and Senior 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.
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.
Sarah Uncles Policy and Communications Officer Expand Sarah joined INQUEST in October 2017. 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.
Jasmine Leng Senior Caseworker Expand Jasmine joined INQUEST as a Senior Caseworker in February 2020. She has a master’s degree in Medical Law and Ethics and an undergraduate degree in Law. Whilst studying she became very aware of how people can be affected by poor care and poor access to information. She became a Community Advocate and an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate, then undertook the Bar Professional Training Course. In her previous role in Policy and Standards for a healthcare regulator, she undertook policy work to promote safe and effective healthcare. After supporting a close relative who was sectioned, Jasmine founded a charity to support young people in psychiatric hospitals. A combination of these experiences led to her interest in contributing to the work of INQUEST.
Bola Awogboro Caseworker Expand Bola joined the INQUEST team in October 2017, originally as casework assistant, becoming a caseworker in March 2018. 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.
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 Officer 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.
Claire Campbell Policy and Research Assistant Expand Having worked as a Research Assistant at INQUEST in 2012, Claire returned to the organisation in February 2018 and is now Policy and Research Assistant, working with the policy team. After graduating from London South Bank University with a degree in International Social Policy, she completed a masters in Criminal Justice Policy at London School of Economics. She has a particular interest in feminist and BAME perspectives of the criminal justice system.
Yohanah Rodney Casework Assistant Expand Yohanah joined INQUEST in 2018 as a Casework Volunteer. In the same year she became a Project Assistant working on the INQUEST Library Online and is currently a Casework Assistant. She 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. As a volunteer at INQUEST her interests broadened, and she is looking to get more involved with deaths involving Children and Young People in Mental Health settings.
Jodie Anderson 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.