Coroner's Finding: ROBJOHNS Ronald Thomas
Deceased
Ronald Thomas Robjohns
Demographics
89y, male
Date of death
2003-11-19
Finding date
2005-01-27
Cause of death
congestive cardiac failure due to ischaemic heart disease and aortic valve stenosis
AI-generated summary
Ronald Thomas Robjohns, 89, died of congestive cardiac failure due to ischaemic heart disease and aortic valve stenosis while detained under the Mental Health Act at Glenside Hospital. He was admitted following severe depression, suicidal ideation, and self-neglect after multiple family bereavements. Six days into admission, he fell and sustained minor lacerations. He was found dead 10 hours later. Post-mortem revealed old subdural haematomas and evidence of progressive supranuclear palsy (explaining falls), but these did not contribute to death. The coroner found his detention was lawful and appropriate, and hospital care did not contribute to his death. The case demonstrates appropriate psychiatric assessment and involuntary admission for a severely depressed elderly man at high risk of suicide and self-neglect, with death ultimately from natural cardiac causes.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Drugs involved
Contributing factors
- severe depression following multiple family bereavements
- self-neglect and malnutrition
- unwitnessed fall with minor head and hand injuries causing stress and anxiety
- significant coronary artery disease
- moderate aortic valve stenosis
- pulmonary oedema and congestive cardiac failure
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 —