Coroner will hold inquest into man's death after Gloriavale incident
Friday, 21 February 2020
The death of a 20-year-old man at Gloriavale will be investigated by the coroner.
Coroner David Robinson said he would hold an inquest into the death of Sincere Standtrue. A date has not been set yet.
Standtrue died on November 2 in Christchurch Hospital, following an incident at Gloriavale, on the West Coast, on October 23.
His parents filed an application in the Coroners' Court at Christchurch for suppression of all evidence in the coroner's inquiry, the name of the deceased, the names of any witnesses and the name of the Gloriavale Christian Community.
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A hearing was held in December and the coroner released his decision this month. He ruled the media could report Standtrue's name, that he died at Gloriavale and that an inquest would be held.
Standtrue's parents were given seven days to appeal the decision, but chose not to.
Robinson made a non-publication order for all other evidence on the coronial file.
In a previous death at Gloriavale, family members of 14-year-old girl Prayer Ready were angry there was no inquest into the circumstances of her death.
Prayer was the focus of a Stuff Circuit investigation in 2016. She died from asphyxiation after choking on a piece of meat while in an isolation room in which the door handles had been disabled.
When Prayer died in 2015, coroner Marcus Elliott visited the isolated Christian community to investigate, but did not hold an inquest.
In his findings, he said: 'Prayer was a much loved member of the Gloriavale community. Her death was a tragic accident. It did not result from any want of care on the part of her family or Gloriavale.'
A second Stuff Circuit investigation revealed claims from Prayer's siblings that Gloriavale's leaders manipulated the coroner into believing the disabled door handles played no part in Prayer's death.