Second inquest held for ex-BBC editor after wife campaigned for death certificate in Welsh

A second inquest has been held into the death of a former BBC editor after his widow campaigned to receive a bilingual death certificate.

Aled Glynne Davies went missing from Pontcanna, Cardiff, on New Year's Eve 2022 and his body was found four days later in the water in Cardiff Bay.

The first inquest found the ex-boss of the Welsh language Radio Cymru drowned accidentally after falling into the River Taff, but his family received a death certificate only in English.

On Thursday, senior north Wales coroner Kate Robertson told the Pontypridd court the previous inquest had been quashed by the High Court and a new certificate in both English and Welsh had been produced.

BBC Wales understands there has been no previous case in which an inquest has been reopened solely to allow a bilingual death certificate to be issued, although there is no official confirmation that this is the first such case.

The coroner told the family: "It has been a long and very frustrating process.

"I really hope that you have an opportunity now to remember Aled as the popular and talented gentleman that he was, and certainly, after today, with the knowledge that Aled's death has been recorded bilingually, as he would have wished."

While bilingual death certificates are issued in cases where a death has been registered bilingually in Wales, Davies's death was first registered by the coroner's office in English, and then bilingually.

Robertson said that while the first inquest had been conducted in Welsh, "the death was registered in English only with an English-only death certificate, as this was provided first".

"My intention was for Aled's death to be registered bilingually, and a bilingual death certificate was to follow," she said.

"This did not happen."

Davies's widow, Afryl Glynne Davies, said she had repeatedly asked for a bilingual certificate to reflect the importance of the Welsh language in her late husband's life but had been refused, leading her to take the matter to the High Court.

"All I've had is walls and barriers," she said.

"[The General Register Office] came back and said they couldn't give me a bilingual certificate because they would have to re-register the death.

"Then they came back, and this was the most hurtful one, and said they could put the Welsh language in a box at the bottom in tiny letters, which I would hardly be able to read.

"I kept on saying to them, 'but it's not my mistake' – my language is not a mistake.

"They refused and refused and refused, and that's why we went to the High Court.

"That was the last resort."

Davies said not having a bilingual certificate for her husband had been "really scary".

"What I've learned from all of this is we have no legal rights to have bilingual certificates in general, for births, deaths and marriages.

"We have no rights, there are guidelines, but there is no legal right for us to have them."

Robertson said: "The High Court agreed to quash the inquest so that it could be reopened to ensure Mrs Davies receives a bilingual death certificate."

In the reopened hearing, the coroner restated the circumstances of Davies's death and thanked the family for their "patience and commitment".

Cardiff West MP Alex Barros-Curtis raised the matter on behalf of the family in the UK Parliament last year and proposed any birth, death or marriage certificate in Wales should be issued bilingually, in English and Welsh.

He said: "Afryl's determination has highlighted the injustice faced by Welsh-speaking families who are still denied the choice of receiving death certificates in Welsh or bilingually.

"No family should have to fight for their language to be treated with equal respect."

Barros-Curtis said he would bring his proposed bill back to Parliament in the new term.

"I am already in talks with ministers on the next steps to reintroduce these reforms," he said.

"The case for change is as strong as ever, and I remain committed to ensuring families in Wales have the choice to receive certificates in Welsh, English or bilingually."

Afryl Glynne Davies said: "Aled would have wanted a bilingual certificate for himself, but he would also have wanted everyone else to have that same right."