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System had little way to monitor disabled man leading up to his death, inquest hears

Once Jamie Hawley chose to leave assisted living and stop accessing services, the system was hard-pressed to keep tabs on him, a coroner’s inquest into the 41-year-old’s starvation death heard Monday in Brockville.

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BROCKVILLE — Once Jamie Hawley chose to leave assisted living and stop accessing services, the system was hard-pressed to keep tabs on him, a coroner’s inquest into the 41-year-old’s starvation death heard Monday.

 Hawley was just 57 pounds when he died of starvation, pneumonia and 33 infected bedsores, seven of which cratered to the bone, while in the care of his younger brother, Jerry Hawley.

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 “The farther they are from the system, the more isolated they become, the fewer eyes that are on them,” said Community Living Kingston and District executive director Peter Sproul.

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It was what Community Living staff members told the inquest were the rarest of circumstances. In their careers, less than a handful of people had left the care of Community Living, and of them only Jamie met this fate.

A criminal trial has already determined that Jerry Hawley was guilty of manslaughter. In a precedent-setting decision, Justice Lynn Ratushny sentenced Jerry to 20 years in prison for starving his brother to death.

While that lengthy trial focused on the actions, or inactions, of one man, the coroner’s inquest will essentially try to answer whether the collective system in place at the time — police, disability services, volunteer organizations and other agencies — failed Jamie, and a five-member jury may make recommendations to prevent similar deaths.

 Jamie Hawley was born a healthy baby boy who was then physically abused into disability. At three months old, he was brought to hospital bleeding between his brain and skull. What resulted was a permanent brain injury that left Jamie both physically and intellectually disabled.

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He spent years as a ward of the state and then, when he reached adulthood, began living in group homes and then eventually with a roommate. Jamie didn’t know he had family, and was thrilled to learn he had a brother, Jerry.

 In June 2000, the brothers began living together.

 Jerry was told what a commitment it would be to care of Jamie.

“We certainly made it clear that he needed full-time support,” Sproul said.

 But in those early days, there were no warning signs of what was to come.

 “We didn’t believe he would neglect or harm Jamie,” Sproul said.

Had they had an inkling, Sproul said they would have called the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee, but even he believes that the office, much like Community Living, had no right or authority to stop Jamie from leaving of his own free will.

 Likewise, the organization can’t force services on someone who didn’t voice wanting them.

 “We could try to flex our muscles that way but when push comes to shove, we have no authority,” Sproul said.

 Sproul testified that he would like to see indefinite, standardized check-ins legislated by the province for people who opt out of their care. Community Living could easily offer case management of those check-ins, he said.

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 The inquest heard of a frequently moving family that was under no obligation to tell service providers where it was or how it could be reached.

 The OPP’s Jeffrey Nussey was the lead criminal investigator in what was initially believed to be a criminal negligence causing death case against Jerry Hawley. OPP obtained a search warrant for the Hawleys’ home in Prescott. When they arrived just before 11 p.m. the night after Jamie died in May 2008, they were overwhelmed by the smell of bleach in the two-storey home.

 Jerry Hawley was eventually convicted of manslaughter, though Justice Lynn Ratushny called the act “near murder.” He continues to appeal his sentence.

Jerry Hawley was known to police.  Crimestoppers had received a tip that he was selling marijuana and Belleville police had investigated him for three counts of domestic assault and, still, Jamie stayed in the home with him. Belleville police had also received five calls in four years reporting concerns about Jamie’s well-being. Patrol officers responded and, though the Hawleys had sometimes been tipped off that police were on the way, they made notes on his appearance and said they were satisfied.

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 Now, that police force has an elder and vulnerable adult abuse policy that would immediately make any similar complaints received a criminal investigation.

 “It’s all tracked so that this could not happen again,” said Insp. Chris Barry.

 The inquest heard Jamie’s was a situation in which multiple agencies were involved with him and his family but none appeared to have jurisdiction over an adult man with a disability who was mentally competent.

Social workers, personal support workers, even supervisors showed up to the various doors of the various homes the Hawleys lived in, and were routinely turned away.

 Counsel for the Ministry of Community and Social Services, which runs the Ontario Disability Support Program, was given standing in the inquest. Claudette Breault, who served as the Crown prosecutor in the criminal trial, is acting as counsel for the coroner.

 The inquest is scheduled to last 10 days.

 syogaretnam@ottawacitizen.com

twitter.com/shaaminiwhy

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