‘Lack of transparency' concerns footballer Maddy Cusack's family, inquest hears
The family of former footballer Maddy Cusack says they're concerned about a 'lack of transparency' over the disclosure of a report by the Football Association, an inquest hearing was told.
A pre-inquest review at Chesterfield Coroner's Court on Thursday (April 24th), which was attended by ex- Sheffield United coach Jonathan Morgan and some of Ms Cusack's relatives, heard that a report seen by the family from the governing body has a 'large number of redactions'.
Ms Cusack's former boss, Mr Morgan, was the subject of a written complaint from her family to Sheffield United within a week of her death.
She died aged 27, on September 20, 2023 at her home address in Lady Lea Road, Horsley in Derbyshire.
The complaint said she had been facing issues allegedly stemming from her relationship with Mr Morgan.
An FA investigation was opened in January last year, with the governing body saying at the time that its purpose was 'to understand whether or not any further action is required under our jurisdiction within football'.
Ms Cusack's family were represented in the pre-inquest hearing by Maria Mulla of Maitland Chambers, which is also representing some survivors in legal action against former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed.
Ms Mulla told the hearing: 'The issue of relevance and the scope of this inquest is still very much a process that's being undertaken, and the family certainly needs to consider all the disclosure before making submissions.
'They are concerned about a lack of transparency, particularly in relation to documents that are being provided to them.
'I'm being told the FA report, in particular, has missing pages and has a large number of redactions.
'I don't think it's an unreasonable request for the family or their legal team to inspect the redacted material.
'The family wants some transparency.'
Stephen Walsh KC, legal counsel for the FA, said the coroner was given 'unfettered access' to all material which 'assists with determining the scope'.
Assistant coroner Sophie Cartwright KC added: 'I can confirm that I have full, unfettered access to all documentation in its unredacted format.
'I have myself considered the documentation.'
The court heard that some information had been redacted because it is irrelevant or for data protection reasons.
The coroner told the court WhatsApp messages between Ms Cusack and Mr Morgan would form part of the disclosure bundle as well as a recording of a Microsoft Teams video call between them.
Mr Morgan was sacked by Sheffield United in February last year after information came to light about a relationship he had with a player while he was in charge at Leicester, but his dismissal was not related to the FA investigation.
Sheffield United's own investigation, which concluded in December 2023, found no evidence of wrongdoing.
A further pre-inquest hearing was fixed for June 3 for counsel to make submissions on the scope, witnesses, redactions to the documents, whether a jury might be required, and to fix a date for the inquest.
Ms Cusack's family issued a statement last September, a year on from her death, in which they said they remain 'steadfastly committed and determined to attain justice for Maddy'.
They added that they 'seek accountability and that comes with truth'.
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