Section 273

On information being given to a police officer of the death of any person or that the dead body of a person has been found and that there is reason to suspect that the person came by his death in a sudden or unnatural manner or by violence, or if the manner in which the person came by his death is unknown, that officer or some other police officer shall at once go to the spot where the body is lying or the death is believed to have occurred and use his best endeavours to discover the cause of the death of the deceased and may arrest any person whom he reasonably suspects of having caused the death.

As soon as possible after that officer has seen the dead body or started his investigation he shall notify a Coroner stating any particulars concerning the cause of death which have come to his knowledge, and giving his opinion as to whether the death was due to any unlawful act or omission or not.

In any case where the death has not been reported to a Coroner as due to any unlawful act or omission any police officer who has viewed the body and thereafter certified in writing that there appears no reason to suspect that the death was due to any unlawful act or omission may cause the body to be removed to such place as that officer directs, pending the order of a Coroner, and every such certificate shall be delivered to the Coroner.

A police officer investigating the circumstances connected with any death which has been reported to a Coroner under this section shall from time to time furnish that Coroner with any further particulars concerning the death which may subsequently come to his knowledge, together with the name of any person who has been arrested and charged in connection with the death. [272