A Mombasa Court Tuesday closed the inquest into the death of British national Harry Roy Veevers, ending an 11-year legal process that failed to determine the cause of death.
Delivering his ruling, Senior Resident Magistrate David O. Odhiambo said the court could not establish how Veevers died due to conflicting forensic reports and the advanced decomposition of the body.
“Due to the level of decomposition and the conflicting reports by pathologists, the government chemist and other experts, the cause of death remains unknown, and as such nobody can be called to answer to any charge,” ruled Odhiambo.
Veevers was buried in a Muslim cemetery within days, without a post-mortem examination or police involvement.
The swift burial angered his sons, who accused long-time partner, Azra Parvin Din and her daughters of rushing the process to conceal the cause of death.
They alleged that their father may have been poisoned for financial gain and successfully petitioned for his exhumation later in 2013.
The inquest was first ordered and moved through the hands of several magistrates over more than a decade.
A total of 16 witnesses including family members, investigators, and forensic experts from both Kenya and the UK testified.
Some forensic tests detected traces of cyhalothrin, a pesticide, while others found none. Experts warned that decomposition and possible contamination undermined the reliability of the findings.
The court also cited procedural lapses, such as poor chain-of-custody documentation for evidence.
Odhiambo ordered that Veevers’ remains, stored at the Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary for 11 years, six months, one week and five days, be released to the family for reburial at a site of their choice, subject to payment of mortuary fees.
He praised the patience of the family, the work of judicial officers, prosecutors, and investigators, and acknowledged the role of the media in following the case.
However, he stressed that without conclusive proof, the law could not assign blame.
The inquest will only be reopened if new evidence emerges, the court stated.
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