Sydney man’s death on Norfolk Island still a mystery after he was found behind a ute
A GRIEVING father has called for the abolition of an obscure and antiquated law that contributed to the mysterious death of his son on Norfolk Island last Christmas Day. Trent James Seary, 37, died of a brain injury after he was found sprawled behind a ute.
NSW
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AN inquest has heard how an obscure law and an antiquated custom contributed to the mysterious death of a man on Norfolk Island last Christmas Day.
Western Sydney man Trent James Seary, 37, died of a brain injury after he was found sprawled behind a ute. He had been legally riding unrestrained in the tray because it had sides at least 15cm high.
The inquest also considered whether there needed to be trained paramedics on the island of more than 2000 people, who are solely reliant on volunteer ambulance officers trained in first aid.
It’s the only Australian territory where it is legal to travel unrestrained on the back of a ute on public roads, which was a novelty Mr Seary was reportedly enjoying before coming off and landing heavily on the asphalt.
It also has no paramedics, so the first responders to the scene were chef James Garden and concreter James Tavener, who are volunteers with St John Ambulance.
The volunteers are not permitted to inject patients, which came as a shock to the locum doctor who arrived at the scene and was surprised the ambulance didn’t carry the adrenaline shots she required.
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Trent Seary’s father, Paul Seary, 64, said the novelty of riding on the back of a ute was not worth the risk of death.
“Riding in the back of a ute is fraught with danger and even though we’ve all done it, simply making people ride in the cabin with a seatbelt could prevent another tragedy,” Paul Seary told The Sunday Telegraph.
“I want my son back, I don’t want him gone. I love Trent to death and unfortunately nothing will bring him back but hopefully something good comes from this tragedy.”
A landscaper from Greenfield Park, Mr Seary had been riding on the tray with his girlfriend, Erin Hutchinson, on a late-night tour of the island’s best fishing spots on December 25, 2017.
Mr Seary was described as being in a jovial mood until he and Ms Hutchinson had an argument, at which point she hopped in the cabin with her cousin Kristen Jenkins and his friend Jacob Morgan.
The only person who offered an account of how Mr Seary ended up on the road was Mr Jenkins.
“I saw Trent stand up, facing the back of a ute, and fall like one of those trust exercises — he fell straight back,” Mr Jenkins said.
Another quirk of the island is that it’s typically the responsibility of nurses at the hospital to call police after a major accident, which didn’t happen for 17 minutes after the crash.
By the time police arrived, the driver, Jacob Morgan, had already gone home, where, as he told the coronial inquest, he drank “a fair bit” of tequila.
“I probably should have gone to the police station but it didn’t really occur to me at the time,” Mr Morgan said.
“I went home. I just sat there … I drank some tequila — a fair bit.”
Mr Morgan eventually made his own way to the police station early the next morning after police asked him to come down over the phone, where he told police he was “probably over the limit” while driving, according to a transcript from the interview.
However, police never tested his blood alcohol content because he’d arrived at the police station two hours and five minutes after the accident, which was five minutes too late to legally breathalyse him.
The other two passengers, Ms Hutchinson and Mr Jenkins, also left the scene before police arrived, so Ms Hutchinson could go home to sleep.
“When they started doing CPR my cousin grabbed me and turned me around so I couldn’t see it,” Ms Hutchinson told the coroner.
“That’s all I remember of that night. I don’t remember going back to my nan’s house, I just remember waking up.”
Police did not lay any charges in relation to the accident.
The three passengers all estimated the ute was travelling between 10-40km/h when Mr Seary went over the side, as Mr Morgan had slowed to make a turn.
Mr Seary was described as a “happy-go-lucky fella” who didn’t have a bad bone in his body and was loved by everyone he knew.
“He loved life and everything in it,” his dad said.
“Trent would take people under his wing who would grow to idolise him. His death is a great waste.”
Expert witness Ian Faulks, a psychology professor at Macquarie University with a private practice in transportation safety and traffic policing, recommended Norfolk Island outlaw passengers riding on ute trays.
Norfolk Island St John Ambulance volunteer James Tavener, who was the first responder and coincidentally the driver’s boss, suggested there needed be trained paramedics stationed on the island.
The coroner has adjourned the court indefinitely.