Mathieson, Troy James and Morton, Hughie Kirk Douglas
Deceased
Troy James Mathieson and Hughie Kirk Douglas Morton
Demographics
23y, male
Date of death
2019-02-04
Finding date
2022-04-28
Cause of death
Drowning/immersion
AI-generated summary
Troy Mathieson (23) and Hughie Morton (21) drowned in flood waters while entering a culvert to avoid police detention during extreme flooding in Townsville on 4 February 2019. The men entered a flooded drain after being interrupted during an attempted break-in, and were swept through a 170-metre culvert by powerful flood waters. The coroner concluded that categorising them as wanted persons rather than missing persons was not outcome-changing, as they would likely have died within minutes to 45 minutes maximum. Neither installing grates nor signage would have prevented their deaths. Key issues included delayed recognition that they may have entered water, lack of standardised protocols for flood water response, and the hydraulically dangerous conditions created by the major storm event.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- Extreme flood conditions with major storm event (120-year rainfall event)
- Attempted break-in to Dan Murphy's store
- Flight from police custody while intoxicated
- Entry into flooded drain with water depth approaching 2 metres
- Alcohol intoxication (Troy 0.10 BAC; Hughie 0.01 BAC)
- Drug intoxication (Troy: cannabis metabolite; Hughie: active cannabis and methylamphetamine)
- Delayed recognition that the men may have entered flood water
- Initial categorisation as wanted persons rather than missing persons
- Hydraulically dangerous flow conditions in culvert
- Unknown debris under water surface
- Delay in initiating Search and Rescue operation
Coroner's recommendations
- QPS to consider flood water training module for members to increase awareness of dangers presented by flood water and assist decision-making
- QPS to consider establishment of protocol for situations where someone is seen entering flood waters and not leaving, including automatic assumption of missing person status in flood waters and early consultation with Police Search and Rescue
Full text
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