Kevin Campbell’s loved ones have been searching for answers. It has been almost 10 months since the death of their “irreplaceable father, brother, uncle”, yet so many questions remain about his premature passing.
Those he left behind will have a chance to ask those questions on April 14 when an inquest into the death of the Arsenal and Everton icon at the age of just 54 begins in earnest at Manchester Coroners’ Court. Whether it yields all the answers sought is another matter entirely.
That Campbell’s family instructed a team of lawyers specialising in medical negligence to represent them at a pre-inquest hearing almost six weeks ago says everything about what they feared may have been a life cut short by “shortcomings” in the hospital care he received in his final days.
February’s hearing did not go the way his loved ones had wanted and it can now be revealed that they and their legal team have since parted company. Telegraph Sport has been told they are not expected to be represented by any law firm at this month’s inquest.
They were not present in person at Manchester Coroners’ Court during either of two pre-inquest hearings and it is unclear if they plan to attend on April 14, participate in or watch the proceedings via video link, or stay away altogether.
The apparent suddenness of Campbell’s death at Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) on June 15 – less than two weeks after it emerged he had fallen seriously ill – left both his family and English football reeling. Tributes flooded in for a man whose feats earned him legendary status at so many clubs amid a roll of honour that included a succession of major trophies with Arsenal, great escapes from Premier League relegation with both Everton and West Bromwich Albion, and a title-winning promotion campaign that took Nottingham Forest back into the top flight.
The most moving accolade came from his son, Tyrese, who has followed in his father’s footballing footsteps and has this season helped propel Sheffield United to the summit of the Championship. “I appreciate my dad was admired by many and the outpouring of love has been some comfort for us as a family, so thank you for that at such a difficult time,” he wrote on social media. “The pain of this is indescribable and as a son you look at your dad as invincible. He is my idol, the one who I wanted to be when I grew up. He was the life and soul of every party and room he blessed, a one in a million person that was loved by everyone, a special special person. I’ll miss you, Dad. I would now ask that the privacy of our family is respected as we mourn the loss of an irreplaceable father, brother, uncle and all-round amazing human being. Love you always, Dad.”
The immediate accolades were followed by a succession of further tributes dedicated to “Super Kev”, most notably before Arsenal’s opening game of the season against Wolverhampton Wanderers in August and Everton’s match with Bournemouth the same month. The two clubs who claim him as “one of our own” meet at Goodison Park on Saturday – the final time the stadium will host a fixture between the sides – and fans have been urged to stand up in the ninth minute, in honour of his old Everton shirt number, and sing “Super Kevin Campbell”.
The shock of Campbell’s death last summer was compounded by the news less than three weeks later that a major safety incident had been reported regarding the hospital care he had received. The revelation came during July’s opening of the inquest into his death by coroner Zak Golombeck, who said Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), which manages MRI, had declared a Level 5 patient safety incident – the most serious category – in relation to Campbell.
Golombeck said it was regarding a delay in aspects of Campbell’s care and diagnosis, and concerns over decision-making processes about palliative care. He said the trust was conducting internal investigations and there would be extra evidence, including the investigation report, witness statements from clinicians and a statement from Campbell’s next of kin. Golombeck announced a provisional cause of death given for Campbell had been a multi-organ failure due to infective endocarditis, a rare and potentially fatal infection of the inner lining of the heart most commonly caused by bacteria entering the blood. He also said Campbell was reported to have been “fit and well until around January 2024, when he had a number of admissions to hospital before this final admission”.
Proceedings were adjourned for what transpired to be almost eight months before February’s pre-inquest hearing, prior to which Telegraph Sport was informed the Level 5 patient safety incident had been downgraded to a less serious category. The hearing was subsequently told that a “mortality review” by MFT had determined that Campbell’s death had been “possibly avoidable” and that the clinicians examining the case “were divided initially on whether there was strong evidence of avoidability”.
Barrister Sebastian Naughton, appointed by law firm Irwin Mitchell to represent the family at the hearing, said via video link that the trust had “identified some shortcomings in treatment” but that it was “effectively marking its own homework when assisting the court with causation”. He said the coroner should consider ordering independent expert evidence from a consultant cardiologist, rather than rely solely on the findings of the mortality review.
The hearing also chronicled how Campbell had been in and out of hospital in the months leading up to his death, which included spending 6½ weeks at MRI in early 2024 and a number of days at Salford Royal Hospital after he suffered a suspected “embolic stroke” (a stroke caused by a blood clot), before his final month-long admission back at MRI. Naughton told the hearing the family had questions about how there had been “no clear cause identified” for Campbell’s first stay at MRI. He said he wanted the scope of the inquest widened to include Campbell’s admission at Salford Royal, which is operated by Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, amid questions about why he had not been given an echocardiogram – an ultrasound heart scan – while there. Naughton said: “There may have been an opportunity at that stage to diagnose infective endocarditis.”
There had been reports last year of Campbell suffering kidney failure prior to his death, with his weight said to have dropped to 9st by the time he passed away. Naughton told the inquest that the mortality review notes identified 2½ weeks during Campbell’s second admission to MRI “when there was a delay in review by renal and cardiology, as a result of which there was delayed diagnosis of infective endocarditis”.
Coroner ‘unlikely to be turned around on it’
He said there were questions over “what difference earlier antibiotic therapy could have made”. Stressing the need for a thorough examination of all this, Naughton said: “This is a medically complicated inquest.”
Golombeck rejected these requests. The coroner told Naughton MFT’s mortality review had a “level of independence” as it had included a professor who was not involved in Campbell’s care. He suggested that “the family would not have submitted” a request for independent expert evidence had the professor involved in the mortality review “opined in a different way”. He also said: “And whilst also you refer to the trust marking their own homework, they have now set out in stone, so to speak, a duty of candour. And all witnesses will have a duty to this court as well.” He concluded: “I am not satisfied on any issues of complexity or any evidence that any independent evidence is required.” Golombeck also refused to make Northern Care Alliance an “interested party” in the proceedings, saying: “The scope does not need to be widened.” The coroner stressed an inquest was a “fact-finding exercise” that was “very different to any civil proceedings that might be being considered”.
Responding to Golombeck’s decision, Naughton said: “The family will want to consider whether they should instruct independent expert evidence in view of the fact you have declined to do so.” But Golombeck warned that even if they did obtain such expert evidence – which would be at their own expense rather than that of the court – that they should not expect him “to rely on it anyway”. He added: “It’s unlikely that I’m going to be turned around on it.”
One concession Golombeck said he was prepared to make was over the “availability” of Campbell’s footballer son to participate in the inquest given his busy schedule. That may be why the proceedings have been listed for a Monday, two days after his club visit Plymouth Argyle in the Championship and four days before they host Cardiff City.
With United two points clear in the race for promotion to the Premier League, it will not be lost on the 25-year-old that he has been so cruelly denied the chance to share what would be the greatest moment of his career with the man whose legacy he has been striving to live up to. Sickeningly, his first goal for the club in October resulted in him being subjected to tragedy chanting by supporters of Stoke City, with whom he had started his career before being released in August.
What he does next in his and his family’s search for the truth about the death of a father he thought “invincible” remains to be seen. In the immediate aftermath of February’s pre-inquest hearing, Telegraph Sport was told the family would not be making any comment about the proceedings but that no separate legal action had been launched.
Irwin Mitchell declined to comment on why it and the family had parted company and what that might mean for the inquest or any other steps Campbell’s loved ones might take. MFT, which agreed with Golombeck at February’s hearing that independent expert evidence was not required for this month’s inquest, said it would not comment until the proceedings had concluded.
Tributes to Campbell, meanwhile, show no sign of abating. His sister, Lorna, was present at an event last week to raise money for the Kevin Campbell Foundation, for which she is director. Entitled “An Evening with Legends”, Campbell’s former Arsenal team-mates Alan Smith, Lee Dixon, Paul Davis and Andrew Cole shared their memories of playing with him. That was followed by a plea on X by Everton fan group the 1878s for supporters of the “clubs he loved the most” to this weekend honour the memory of someone taken far too soon – and for reasons that remain unclear.
