Dr Lawler worked at the Manchester Royal Infirmary before his appointment, in 1984 as a Home Office Pathologist for Greater Manchester.

Over three decades he presented his findings on the causes of deaths to Crown Court juries and Coroners’ inquests. He helped to identify the bodies of those killed in a devastating earthquake at Christchurch New Zealand in 2013, was involved in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 and the London bombings several months later.