Run for the Lifeboat

Death of a Son

In September 1982, Pauline and Ray Williams were woken with the news that their 19-year-old son John had been found dead. They discovered he had been experimenting with drugs but the inquest verdict was clear: John had been 'unlawfully killed'. Yet no prosecutions followed. Pauline could not accept this decision and spent the next three years taking on the British legal establishment. The outcome of her campaign has now earned her a place in legal history.