Amy Winehouse inquest set to be reheard

Back to black: Amy Winehouse in 2007 (Rex Features)

The inquest into the death of 27-year-old singer Amy Winehouse is set to be reheard following the resignation of the coroner in charge, according to a spokesman for Camden Council.

St Pancras coroner Dr Andrew Reid quit last week amid an investigation that he hired his “unqualified” wife as an assistant deputy coroner.

Suzanne Greenaway was appointed assistant deputy coroner in inner north London in 2009 by Dr Andrew Scott Reid but she stood down last November after it emerged she did not have the correct qualifications.

Dr Reid was suspended in February as the Official for Judicial Complaints (OJC) began an investigation.

Winehouse’s name appears on a list of inquests set to be reheard next month at St Pancras Coroner’s Court.

The original verdict into Winehouse’ death was returned as ‘misadventure’. The inquest was held in October last year, a month before Greenaway resigned by which point she had overseen around 30 inquests.

Greenaway practised as a solicitor in Australia from 1999 but came here less than three years ago. This means that under UK law, in which coroners who are lawyers or doctors must have been registered with a professional body in this country for at least five years, she was not qualified.

She could face disciplinary action by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority.

"Back to Black" singer Winehouse died at her north London flat on 23 July 2011. A post-mortem examination found no traces of illegal drugs, but she was found to have been five-times over the legal drink-drive limit.

The inquest at St Pancras Coroner's Court, attended by the 27-year-old's parents Mitch and Janis Winehouse, heard the singer had started drinking alcohol again after abstaining for three weeks. Police recovered three bottles of vodka, two large and one small.

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On Friday Winehouse's boyfriend at the time of her death Reg Traviss, 35, was cleared of rape at a London trial.