Helen Smith (nurse)

Mr Smith's campaign led to changes in the rules concerning inquests to violent deaths of UK citizens occurring outside the country. Helen Smith's body was stored for thirty years before being cremated in 2009. The official version of her death was never disproved.

Although her father had insisted that Helen would not receive a funeral until the full circumstances of her death had been uncovered, following discussions with Helen's mother he agreed to hold a funeral while both of them were still alive. Helen Smith's remains were cremated on 9 November 2009, over 30 years after her death. Her ashes were scattered on Ilkley Moor. Ron Smith died on 15 April 2011.

The death of Helen Smith and her father's subsequent campaign led to a change in the rules regarding inquests into violent or unnatural deaths abroad. The West Yorkshire Coroner, Philip Gill had declined to hold an inquest, concluding that the case was outside his jurisdiction. Although his decision was upheld by the High Court, in July 1982 the Court of Appeal ordered the inquest to go ahead. The ruling imposed a duty on coroners to investigate deaths abroad where the body was returned to England and Wales. The hearing was billed as the inquest of the century but failed to give Ron Smith the closure he had wanted; the jury returned an open verdict. The 1982 ruling affected thousands of cases and was later cited as a reason for the decision to hold an inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Human Rights barrister Geoffrey Robertson wrote about his time acting for Ron Smith, Helen's father, at the inquest into her death. Robertson theorises that Helen did not fall from the balcony while having sex, but was possibly sexually assaulted before her death. "Usher (the pathologist) thought they (genital injuries) indicated rape, and suggested some violent sexual activity had taken place". Robertson also states in his book that pathologists "Dalgaard, Usher & Green.......produced evidence which precluded a fall from a height".

Helen Linda Smith (3 January 1956 – 20 May 1979) was a British nurse who died in allegedly suspicious circumstances in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after apparently falling from a balcony during a party. Her father refused to accept that her death was an accident, and alleged that there was a conspiracy to conceal the truth.