Inquest into the Death of Subhas CHANDRA
Inquest into the Death of Subhas CHANDRA
Delivered on : 23 March 2017
Delivered at : Perth
Finding of : Coroner Linton
Recommendations : N/A
Orders/Rules : N/A
Suppression Order : N/A
Summary : The deceased was nearly 50 years of age at the time of his death. He was working in Australia and making plans for his family to move from New Zealand and be reunited with him.
The issues which were explored at the inquest hearing were the events surrounding a reported assault on the deceased on 3 November 2013, and the objective evidence as to how the death occurred.
The deceased shared accommodation in Kewdale with a number of other occupants. The deceased kept mostly to himself and appeared to get along with most of the other residents except for one particular resident. Just prior to midnight on Saturday 2 November 2013 the deceased became angry as he could not access the garage door. This resulted in the deceased having a verbal argument with two of the occupants of the house, which then escalated into a physical confrontation with one of the men. The deceased rang the police who attended the house and spoke to the deceased and the other parties involved in the altercation. Police officers made a decision not to pursue the matter due to conflicting witness accounts. Before leaving the house police offered to wait with the deceased if he wanted to collect his things and go stay the night elsewhere, but he declined their offer.
On the afternoon of 3 November 2013 the deceased’s wife contacted a friend asking if she could check on the deceased as the deceased’s wife had been unsuccessfully trying to call the deceased throughout the day. The friend attended at the house where the deceased was staying on two occasions on the evening of 3 November 2013, and spoke to two of the occupants of the house. Each gave a different account of the movements of the deceased throughout the day.
On 4 November 2013 the deceased’s wife and daughter attended the Auckland Central Police Station seeking police assistance to locate the deceased. Auckland police officers passed on the relevant information to Interpol and Interpol Canberra contact WA police and asked them to assist in locating the deceased. WA police attended at the deceased’s residence where they found his bedroom door to be locked from the inside. The bedroom window was also secure and the curtains closed. Police were eventually able to gain entry into the deceased’s bedroom and found the deceased lying face down on his bed. It was clear he had died.
At the inquest hearing the occupants of the house were questioned regarding their involvement with the deceased after the police had left and before he was discovered deceased. The witnesses told the court that they did not see the deceased again, nor did they enter the deceased’s bedroom.
The Coroner concluded that the police had conducted a thorough investigation into the death of the deceased and found there was no evidence to support the conclusion that the other occupants of the house had any direct involvement into the deceased’s death.
The Coroner found the deceased died as a result of aspiration of vomit in a man with focal coronary arteriosclerosis and the manner of death was by way of natural causes.
Catch Words : Inconsistent witness evidence : Importance of thorough police investigation : Natural Causes.
Last updated: 31-Oct-2024
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