Janine Wolstenholme

Practice Areas

Routinely instructed in serious and high-profile inquests including deaths in custody, Mental Health Act, alcohol and substance abuse and specialist provision, hospitals and care homes. She has significant experience of Article 2, jury inquests, and Regulation 28.

Notable cases touching on Article 2 include linked inquests involving school suicides, where the court considered suicide clusters and contagion in educational settings, and Article 2 in the context of safeguarding in private establishments. Janine was instructed to represent the probation service in a lengthy inquest following a domestic homicide, where the perpetrator was on life licence having previously served a life sentence for murdering an ex-girlfriend.

Janine’s civil practice complements her coronial law practice. She provides continuity to clients for linked fatal accident and negligence claims, human rights claims, and judicial review. She has acted for a number of coroners, as defendants in judicial review claims, from advising pre-action to appearing at final hearings in the Divisional Court, and as applicant and respondent in Section 13 applications. Janine is currently instructed as Counsel to the Inquest.

“A consummate professional with excellent advocacy skills” and “very personable, and her ability to condense complex legal points into simple terms for all concerned shows how acute her knowledge and skills are. Her strengths include her attention to detail and client care skills”

She is Assistant Coroner in two of the busiest and most complex coroner areas and Counsel to the Crown (Panel A) (“Treasury Counsel”) regional civil panel.

In 2023 Janine was appointed a Recorder