Inquest into the death of Eric Lewis Wobona
Deceased
Eric Lewis aka Eric Wobona (Kwementyaye)
Demographics
55y, male
Date of death
2012-09-23
Finding date
2014-05-15
Cause of death
Cardiac hypertrophy with significant conditions contributing: coronary artery atherosclerosis, coronary artery ectasia, and type 2 diabetes
AI-generated summary
Eric Lewis Wobona, a 55-year-old Aboriginal man with extensive cardiovascular risk factors including congestive cardiomyopathy, coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes, and previous amputation, died of acute heart failure from cardiac hypertrophy with coronary artery atherosclerosis. He was arrested for assault and held in police custody overnight, then released and died at home approximately 13 hours later. The coroner found he was extremely high cardiovascular risk and no preventable factors contributed to his death. He was not taking prescribed cardiac and diabetes medications despite having them available. Police and health services provided appropriate care during custody, with nurse assessment showing stable vital signs and no acute distress. The death was not causally related to police detention, medication gaps during custody, or medication access delays after release. The coroner commended post-incident safety reforms including wheelchair provision at police stations and enhanced nursing presence in watch houses.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Drugs involved
Contributing factors
- coronary artery disease
- hypertension
- congestive cardiomyopathy
- type 2 diabetes
- chronic kidney disease
- atrial flutter
- smoking
- excessive alcohol consumption
- poor medication adherence
- below-knee amputation with secondary osteomyelitis
Coroner's recommendations
- Installation of spare wheelchairs at NT police stations has been completed
- 24-hour nursing presence in watch houses on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights in Darwin and Alice Springs; 12-hour shifts between 3pm and 3am on other days
- Katherine police station: nurses present 12 hours a day Monday to Saturday, otherwise on call
- Appointment of a custody sergeant at each major police station in the Northern Territory to oversee wellbeing of persons in custody
- Installation of WEBEOC system (computer monitoring system) in watch houses to monitor cells and alert police to prisoner needs with flashing lights and illumination devices
- Remote monitoring capability: WEBEOC system in Katherine cells can be checked and monitored by custody sergeant or senior officer in Darwin
- Nurse access to District Medical Officer when necessary
Full text
Related cases
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —