Final witness testifies at Guy Mitchell inquest

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Testimony has concluded at the coroner’s inquest examining the 2012 death of Guy Mitchell, a 38 year old man with special needs.

The final witness to take the stand was Chris Beasley, the CEO of Community Living Ontario. They wanted to know the policy concerning vulnerable adults and how it could be improved.

Just after proceedings wrapped up CHCH News spoke with Guy’s mother Diane, who said going through this process brought her back to when he died three years ago.

Guy died on April 29, 2012. He was at the property of the group home where he lived. He had fallen into a large water container and drowned.

A representative of Hamilton Police said officers responded to the conditions at the Ancaster home were some of the worst they had ever seen. There were signs of neglect everywhere, and they included no heat, or running water; no food in the fridge, soiled clothes all over the floor as well as alcohol bottles and ashtrays everywhere.

Yet, the home received a passing grade from the care agency Choices just days before Guy died. A number of complaints about the home over the year up to his death produced no investigations, no police reports and no reports with the ministry of community and social services.

The inquest is trying to examine how Guy Mitchell fell through the cracks and the jury is supposed to make recommendations in the next few days.

The five-member jury has been released for the afternoon; they will come back tomorrow at 9:00 am when lawyers will give their final submissions.

CHCH’s Sean Leathong will have more on the Mitchell inquest tonight on the Evening News at 6.