A coroner has found the death of Liam Booth, who was sent home from hospital in a taxi after threatening to take his own life, could not have been prevented.
Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
Warning: This story discusses suicide.
A coroner has found nothing could have been done to prevent the death of a 21-year-old Christchurch man who was sent home from hospital in a taxi after threatening to take his own life.
Liam Booth was found dead in Beckenham in October 2017. A coronial inquiry was opened that year followed by a 2022 inquest as a result of his father Geoff Booth's concerns about the care his son received from the then-Canterbury District Health Board (now HealthNZ Canterbury).
Geoff Booth spent years seeking answers from health authorities, spoke out in the media about his son's death and on behalf of other bereaved families and ran unsuccessfully for the District Health Board in 2019 to raise awareness about suicide and advocate for better mental health services.
In findings released on Monday, eight years after Liam Booth's death, Coroner Bruce Hesketh rejected several of Geoff Booth's concerns, including that his son's level of care was unsatisfactory, and that he should not have been discharged fro
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