Deceased
Judith Ann Johns
Demographics
62y, female
Date of death
2023-07-03
Finding date
2024-10-23
Cause of death
Effects of fire
AI-generated summary
A 62-year-old woman died in a house fire that originated from an unattended cooking pot on the stovetop left in the 'on' position. She had a history of bipolar disorder managed with medication and sertraline, and significant hoarding behaviour that accumulated items throughout her home. At the time of the fire, she had consumed alcohol (blood alcohol 0.08 g/100mL). She inhaled smoke and was deceased when found on the kitchen floor. The fire spread rapidly through the cluttered home. No smoke detectors were present. While this was an accidental death, clinical lessons include recognition that patients with hoarding disorder and psychiatric illness may benefit from home safety interventions, assessment of fire risk in homes with significant clutter, and consideration of supervised cooking practices or assistive technology for vulnerable individuals living alone.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
3y · Male·Smoke inhalation with thermal inhalation injury and carbon monoxide poisoning
Mitchell Thomas, aged three, died in a public housing fire at Larapinta on 1 June 2023, from smoke inhalation. The fire was caused by electrical arcing in the roof space resulting from degraded insulation between two adj…
Unknown·Mixed drug toxicity
Clem McCullough died between 8-10 June 2019 from mixed drug toxicity. The inquest, held in May 2026, resulted in an open finding as the available evidence did not permit the coroner to determine the place or manner of de…
3y · Male·Hyperthermia due to environmental heat exposure due to vehicular entrapment
A 3-year-old died from hyperthermia after being left in a parked vehicle for over 5 hours on a hot day (31°C maximum). The father experienced a prospective memory failure: after refuelling during the school run, his auto…
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 —