Inquest into the Death of Jemmy Vincent HOURAREAU
Inquest into the Death of Jemmy Vincent HOURAREAU
Delivered on :3 May 2017
Delivered at : Perth
Finding of : Deputy State Coroner Vicker
Recommendations :N/A
Orders/Rules : N/A
Suppression Order : N/A
Summary : The deceased was a 53 year old male involved in various business enterprises which involved him travelling extensively in the Gascoyne area. On the morning of Monday 28 November 2011 employees of an auctioneers’ yard in Midland saw a trail of blood which they followed and discovered the body of the deceased lying in a pool of blood among a stack of tyres stored towards the back of an armoury. The deceased was last seen by those employees on Friday 25 November 2011 working on a front end loader located outside the armoury in the yard. Despite searching for the deceased at the close of business on the 25 November 2011 they could not find him and they locked the armour and premises for the weekend.
The inquest was held in an attempt to clarify the circumstances surrounding the death of the deceased.
The Court heard from the deceased’s business partner, of approximately four years, that prior to his death the deceased had not shown any paranoid behaviour but he did consider the deceased seemed more anxious towards the time of his death. They had entered into a business arrangement in mid-2011 relating to the deceased’s amethyst mine and purchased appropriate equipment for the mine, including the purchase of a loader.
The loader was inspected at the auctioneer’s yard on 21 November 2011 and the deceased was in the process of moving it from where it was stored when it ceased working outside the armoury. After enquiring with his business partner the deceased was assured that although a cheque had been sent to the auctioneers for payment of the loader, the cheque would be cancelled. There was a level of dispute as to who was responsible for the repairs on getting the loader into full working condition.
The deceased was anxious to try and get the loader working and have it transported to the mine site. The deceased returned to the auctioneer’s yard over a series of days where he continued to work on the loader.
On Friday 25 November 2011 the deceased made a telephone call to his business partner at 3:08pm in which the deceased joked about the loader, but as far as the business partner was concerned the deceased advised him the loader’s problems had been solved and they could complete the purchase by reissuing the cheque.
The Deputy State Coroner was unable to determine any reason for the deceased to want to end his life or why the deceased would move into the armoury unseen and kill himself prior to the place being alarmed at 5.30 pm. The Deputy State Coroner concluded that while the evidence points strongly to the deceased self-inflicting his injuries, the circumstances surrounding the events between 3-6 pm on 25 November 2011, in and around the armoury are too confusing to be satisfied as to the manner of the deceased’s death. The Deputy State Coroner was unable to determine enough of the events to be certain of the deceased’s intent, if the injuries were self-inflicted.
The Deputy State Coroner found the deceased’s cause of death was penetrating injuries to the right arm and chest and made an Open Finding as to the manner of the death.
Catch Words : Self-inflected injuries : Open Finding.
Last updated: 25-Oct-2024
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