Inquest into the Death of Alexander Albert Steinbrenner

36y · Male·Multiple injuries sustained from intentional jump from cliff top

Alexander Albert Steinbrenner, a 36-year-old man with schizo-affective disorder, died from multiple injuries sustained when he jumped from an 11-metre cliff at the Roundhouse in Fremantle on 27 February 2004. He was an involuntary patient at Alma Street Centre, Fremantle Hospital, who had absconded from the ward. On the day of his death, he left the ward in an irritable mood and contacted his parents, who attempted to find him accommodation. Unable to secure suitable accommodation and expressing suicidal ideation to paramedics after the jump, he died in the Emergency Department from extensive trauma including subarachnoid haemorrhage, lung contusions, bilateral haemothoraces, and multiple fractures. The coroner found his death was by suicide and concluded the supervision, treatment and care provided by Mental Health Services was appropriate, noting the tension between maintaining therapeutic open ward conditions and restrictive detention for involuntary patients.