Coronial
TAScommunity

Coroner's Finding: de-identified VY

Deceased

VY

Demographics

33y, female

Date of death

2024-04-06

Finding date

2026-02-23

Cause of death

hanging

AI-generated summary

A 33-year-old woman with significant history of mental health issues, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and prior suicide attempts died by hanging while highly intoxicated (BAC 0.183g/100mL). She used a length of telecommunications rope left attached to a utility pole at low height (1.00-1.30m) during NBN construction works. The coroner found the accessible rope provided means for suicide. While her psychiatric vulnerability created high suicide risk, the presence of readily-available rope at accessible height was a contributing environmental factor. The coroner recommended NBN review practices of leaving ropes on utility poles and implement protective measures, as such arrangements foreseeably pose safety hazards to the public.

AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.

Contributing factors

  • significant history of mental health issues including depression and anxiety
  • suicidal ideation and prior suicide attempts
  • alcohol intoxication (BAC 0.183g/100mL)
  • accessible length of rope attached to utility pole at low height (1.00-1.30m)
  • recent interpersonal conflict with boyfriend
  • uncontrolled environmental hazard

Coroner's recommendations

  1. NBN and/or its relevant contractors undertake a review of the practice of leaving lengths of rope on utility poles during works, including assessment of risks to health and safety of members of the public and whether changes to the practice are reasonably warranted or practicable
  2. Following the review, NBN and/or its relevant contractors implement any appropriate measures to protect the health and safety of members of the public
Full text

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 —