Family's plea for answers 30 years after Alison Bell's death in South Yorkshire

The family of a woman who took her own life in South Yorkshire have been told that the government’s chief legal adviser is exploring calls for a fresh inquest, 30 years since her death.

Alison Bell died at Rotherham railway station in 1991 after being treated at a psychiatric hospital in Carlisle for a number of years.

Her family didn’t find out until 10 years later that she had a sexual relationship with a trainee nurse during her stay at the facility, and then had an abortion.

Relatives now say those details - which weren't known at the time of Alison's original inquest - should be heard by a coroner.

The now-defunct health trust which ran the hospital later apologised unreservedly for what had happened, and the Crown Prosecution Service said there would have been a realistic chance of convicting the nurse in question, but it wasn't in the public interest.

Alison's family’s campaign has been backed by the charity Inquest, and the Attorney General's office has told them that a specialist legal team is now looking into the matter.

Visiting Alison’s grave today, her brother and sister say there are still unanswered questions about the years leading up to her death.

Alison's sister Sarah Daniel said: “She was actually failed by the very mental health hospital that was supposed to help her, and we feel that should have been brought out in the inquest.

"Alison's death raises very important questions about safeguarding and the exploitation of vulnerable people who are in receipt of mental health services that need to be answered."

Alison’s brother Tom Bell said: “A fresh inquest would be the closest thing we're going to get to any form of truth.  It would just mean that we could finally get the facts out there about what happened when she was in the care of the NHS in the period leading to her death.”