AN inquest has been opened into the death of a student outside a Durham nightclub.

Olivia Burt suffered fatal head injuries during a crowd surge as people queued to get into the Missoula nightclub, in Durham City, shortly before midnight on Wednesday, February 7.

At a hearing at County Hall, in Durham, yesterday assistant coroner Dr Leslie Hamilton opened the inquest and adjourned it to a later date. 

Dawn Carter, coroner’s officer, said: said: “Olivia Molly Burt was a 20-year-old single woman born on December 24 1997 in West Sussex. She was a student who resided at Castle College, Durham City. 

“The circumstances are there was an incident that occurred at Missoula bar in Durham City on February 8 2018. Olivia has passed away at the scene. A post mortem on February 8 has returned a provisional cause of death as head injuries. 

“She was identified at the University Hospital of North Durham by her father, Nigel Burt.” 

Dr Hamilton set a provisional date for a pre-inquest review on July 18.
He said: “A detailed inquiry will carried out, which will involve Durham Constabulary and probably the Health and Safety Executive. 

“When we have those reports we will set out a witness list and formally resume the inquest.”

A former head girl at Bournemouth School for Girls, Miss Burt was an only child from Milford-on-Sea. She was part of the British Sailing team in the European Championships. 

A spokesman for Durham Constabulary said: “The joint investigation we set up with Durham County Council into Olivia’s tragic death is continuing and we are following several lines of inquiry to try to find out exactly what happened that night”.
A Major Incident Public Portal has been activated to make it easier for witnesses to report to the investigation team and that remains open. The portal can be reached at https://mipp.police.uk. Or anyone with information can contact Durham Police on 101.