{"id":367097,"date":"2026-03-04T09:13:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T09:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/367097\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T09:13:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T09:13:07","slug":"son-of-jp-mcmanus-files-new-appeal-to-quash-coroners-cocaine-verdict-on-wifes-death-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/367097\/","title":{"rendered":"Son of JP McManus files new appeal to quash coroner\u2019s cocaine verdict on wife\u2019s death \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

John McManus, the son of billionaire JP McManus<\/a>, has filed a new appeal in Barbados<\/a> in an attempt to quash a coroner\u2019s finding that his wife\u2019s December 2020 death was a result of cocaine use. <\/p>\n

Emma McManus, a mother of three girls and daughter of former Irish tennis player and businessman Peter Ledbetter and his wife Paula, died at the Sandy Lane Hotel in Barbados following a party on December 30th, 2020.<\/p>\n

Graveney Bannister, the coroner, issued findings in September 2024 that found Emma McManus\u2019s death was cocaine-related. <\/p>\n

John McManus is now appealing a ruling from last November that refused to quash Bannister\u2019s finding. It is the third legal action McManus has taken since 2021 challenging Bannister or his verdict.<\/p>\n

In a notice of appeal filed on December 28th, 2025, McManus\u2019s attorney Satcha S Kissoon sets out 12 alleged errors of fact or law made by Judge Patrick Wells in his judgment issued last November. McManus\u2019s latest case will be heard by the Barbados Court of Appeal. <\/p>\n

He is seeking an order of certiorari, quashing Bannister\u2019s verdict and orders that the coroner acted unlawfully and\/or in breach of procedural fairness.<\/p>\n

He wants any new inquest to be conducted \u201cbefore a different coroner\u201d. Alternatively, he wants a different High Court judge to hear his case in a retrial. He also seeks to set aside the High Court order that he must pay Bannister\u2019s legal costs.<\/p>\n

The appeal claims that Wells \u201cerred in law\u201d when he ruled that Bannister was not forbidden by the doctrine of \u201cequitable forbearance\u201d in publishing his ruling while McManus had an ongoing legal challenge against his handling of the case pending. <\/p>\n

McManus says the judge \u201cmisdirected himself\u201d on the legal test of \u201clegitimate expectation\u201d. He claims Bannister gave an \u201cunambiguous and unqualified representation that the inquest would be paused pending appeal\u201d.<\/p>\n

He contends that Wells erred in finding there was no procedural unfairness. He also claims he was \u201cdenied a fair opportunity to challenge and\/or test critical evidence, including by cross-examination\u201d and had no chance to present contrary evidence. <\/p>\n

McManus complains the judge failed to recognise that the coroner \u201comitted material considerations\u201d or \u201ctook into account irrelevant matters\u201d. He said the judge was wrong in concluding that Bannister\u2019s verdict was reasonable, and that Bannister\u2019s preference for one expert report over another was \u201cirrational\u201d and \u201cunsupported by cogent reasons\u201d. He also said the judge should have found that Bannister was possibly biased.<\/p>\n

He complains the costs order against him was \u201cexcessive\u201d, as his appeal raised issues of \u201csignificant public importance\u201d. <\/p>\n

The trial heard there were two pathology reports on Emma McManus \u2013 one by state pathologist Dr Corinthia Dupuis and the other by Dr Stephen Jones, which was commissioned by the McManus family. The private report concluded that Emma McManus\u2019s cause of death was \u201cnatural\u201d, arising from asphyxia caused by inhalation of food material.<\/p>\n

Dupuis swore an affidavit setting how she interviewed John McManus before her autopsy. She said he told her that his wife \u201chad a history of cocaine use\u201d. <\/p>\n

Dupuis informed McManus that she would take samples for a toxicology analysis.<\/p>\n

She alleged that McManus asked if they could keep the results private. He is alleged to have told the pathologist that he was \u201cwilling to spend any amount of money\u201d to keep the results \u201cfrom being known by anyone else\u201d. She told him this was not possible.<\/p>\n

A toxicology analysis found \u201cthe main metabolites of cocaine\u201d in blood and urine samples.<\/p>\n

Depuis disagreed with the Jones finding. \u201cIt is my professional opinion that a person with no medical illness sitting propped up in bed would not normally aspirate,\u201d she stated. <\/p>\n

\u201cCocaine is a cause of death via cardiac arrhythmia, and may therefore cause someone to aspirate gastric contents.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his court submission, Bannister said he considered both pathology reports, but \u201cpreferred\u201d that of Dupuis. <\/p>\n

The McManus family were approached for comment, but did not respond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John McManus, the son of billionaire JP McManus, has filed a new appeal in Barbados in an attempt…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[73],"tags":[40448,79,18,19,17,17320],"class_list":["post-367097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-barbados","tag-business","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jp-mcmanus"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}