Inquest told of seizure history
THE man at the centre of a fatal Ravenshoe explosion had a long history of convulsive seizures and had been advised not to drive many times before crashing his utility into a popular Tablelands cafe, a coroner’s probe into the blast heard.
Cattleman Brian Scutt, on June 9 2015, was on his way to a medical centre when it’s believed he suffered a seizure at the wheel.
Two people were killed and 20 injured when the crash caused LPG gas cylinders to explode.
Fronting the inquest in Cairns yesterday trainee paramedic Narelle Groves told the Coroner’s Court a disoriented Mr Scutt thought he had arrived at the clinic when receiving medical treatment after the explosion.
“(He was asking) what had happened, if he was going die, he was hurting in his back and in his chest,” she said.
Atherton Hospital chief medical officer Dr Suzette Pyke was on call in 2016 when Mr Scutt sought treatment for a seizure.
She told the inquest she believed the “complex patient” understood an instruction not to drive a motor vehicle until the cause of seizures could be determined.
“I expect that he would probably stop (driving) but I did have a level of suspicion that he may not stop for as long as advised,” she said.
Dr Pyke advised follow up management of the unknown condition including anti-convulsive medication and an MRI scan, which was never carried out.
Mr Scutt was advised by Dr Pyke she would be reporting his inability to drive to the Department of Transport and Main Roads.
Mr Scutt, 54, was ruled mentally unfit to stand trial before he died in August last year.
Wife Robyn described her husband as having an “oppositional defiance” disorder when seeking advice from an after-hours medical phone service in 2004.
Ms Scutt said her husband had experienced five “fits” in the last 15 years.
The inquest heard that both Dr Anju Pandey and Queensland Health nurse Rachel Olorenshaw directed Mr Scutt, through his wife, to not drive and attend Atherton Hospital.
“He needs to go to hospital, he can’t go out driving,” Dr Pandey said.
Ms Scutt could be heard on the recorded call passing on medical advice.
“Brian the doctor said you need to go to hospital,” she said.
To which Mr Scutt replied “I am not f---ing going to hospital”.
Mount Garnet grazier John Mudge gave the cattle worker a job in 2014, when he experienced one of Mr Scutt’s episodes.
“His face had gone red and his body had gone as stiff as a board like a soldier at Buckingham Palace,” he told the inquest. “Brian put his foot down and said he did not want to go (to hospital). I said you’re stupid, I am a grazier, not a doctor. You owe it to your family to go to hospital.”
The inquest into the two deaths will hear evidence each day this week and wrap up on Friday.