Widow Of Former Gurkha Soldier Hopes Inquest Into His Death Will Provide Answers

The widow of a former soldier, who died while under medical care, is hoping the inquest into his death will provide her, and their son, with answers surrounding the circumstances of his death.

Nepal-born Prem Rai, 39, was a Gurkha soldier for 18 years before embarking on a career change and training as a butler. However, during his training Prem was admitted to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and referred to mental health services in July 2016. Over the following weeks, Prem was kept under medical observation at Ward Oak 2 Cavell Centre, Peterborough.

On the morning of 19 August, 2016, Prem was found unresponsive in his bed with no obvious sign of the cause of his death.

An inquest into his death is to take place on Monday 2nd October, at Peterborough Town Hall for five days in front of a jury.

Following Prem’s death, his widow Chandra Rai, instructed medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate the care he was given by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.

Gurpreet Lalli, a specialist medical negligence solicitor at Irwin Mitchell’s Cambridge office is representing Chandra.

Expert Opinion

This is obviously a sad situation for this family and over a year after a Prem’s death, Chandra is still trying to come to terms with the loss of her husband, and her child’s father.

“This inquest is an opportunity for the true circumstances surrounding his death to be investigated. We hope that it will provide some answers to the questions that Chandra, and her family, have surrounding his care.” Gurpreet Lalli - Senior Associate Solicitor

Prem was originally admitted to Cavell Centre under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act on 21 July. Three days before his death, Prem’s condition was reviewed and the decision was made to keep him detained under Section 3 of the Mental Health Act.

Chandra, who has a nine-year-old son with Prem, said: “I am still devastated at the loss of Prem. He was much loved by all who met him and I still think about him on a daily basis. It is difficult to come to terms with the fact that he has gone.

“I simply hope that this inquest can provide answers for what happened and whether more could have been done to prevent his tragic death.”

Read more about Irwin Mitchell's medical negligence expertise.