Sheffield United deny deliberately delaying Cusack inquest

Sheffield United have denied intentionally putting off the investigation into Maddy Cusack’s death, their former women’s team captain.

Cusack passed away suddenly in September 2023 at the age of 27, according to police, who stated that the circumstances were uncontroversial.

After that, her family claimed that Cusack was subjected to “processes and conduct” at Sheffield United, including allegations about former manager Jonathan Morgan’s behavior.

Her inquest was originally scheduled for April of last year, but it was changed to this month.

The process was postponed until 29 June on Monday at Chesterfield Coroners Court.

The Cusack family’s attorneys criticized Sheffield United for providing 699 pages of documents just before Christmas, saying that the deadline had been set for late November.

A statement from Cheryl Anderson, the club’s head of safeguarding, is included in the new documents.

The Cusacks’ attorney, Dean Armstrong KC, stated in a statement to the court that the family had to attempt to understand 700 pages of material before Christmas for a hearing the day after the Christmas break.

We find that to be unacceptable. They have been affected by it.

The complaints are completely unrelated, according to Joseph O’Brien KC of Sheffield United. Any suggestion that something is not-compliance is completely rejected by us.

“We have made great efforts to ensure that relevant parties received the information. The suggestion that we somehow contributed to the adjournment as a result of non-compliance is completely unfounded.

The family and their attorneys were prevented from getting access to the concerns raised by the family last year about redactions in a large portion of Sheffield United’s submissions and FA’s final report.

Both Sheffield United and the FA’s legal teams reaffirmed their legal judgment.

After the lawyers for the Cusacks reaffirmed their desire for the redactions to be reviewed, coroner Sophie Cartwright gave Sheffield United seven days to submit any comments.

After that, Cartwright addressed the family, saying, “You’ve been in my thoughts lately, particularly during the Christmas holiday.” I’m sorry to you for the delay in bringing the Maddy’s death inquest to a conclusion. I wish you the best.

Olivia Cusack’s sister Olivia spoke to BBC Newsbeat about the effects of the inquest delays in the fall of last year, saying: “You have no control over how that is handled.

You want to believe that she is okay and at peace.

More than 1, 000 pages of documents will be used in the inquest, and more than 20 witnesses will be summoned to give evidence.

Prior to a hearing last summer, Morgan had previously argued at a hearing that the family’s witnesses were “one-sided” and that she needed the addition of others who would support the “opposite view.”

Lawyers for the Cusack family made the claim at the previous hearing that Sheffield United had a “climate of concern and fear” in the years leading up to the footballer’s passing.

And it was reported that a witness claimed Morgan had “cancered” one of his own players.

In February of this year, Sheffield United fired Morgan because of “new information” regarding how he handled players at other clubs.

Prior to joining the Blades, Morgan’s contract with the agency he represented had been terminated, which stated that there was “a relationship with a player under his control.”