Child sex abductor dies in RHH

Coroner investigates death

A MAN who once attempted to rape an eight-year-old boy after abducting him from the Royal Hobart Show has died from pneumonia while still under the supervision of the state.

The coroner was required to investigate the death of Mervyn Roy Menzies as he remained under criminal supervision at the time of his death, 13 years after his crimes.

Menzies, who had intellectual disabilities and, according to a judge, did not understand that having sex with children was wrong, had been previously placed under an order that saw him permanently locked up in a secure mental health unit.

However, he successfully had that restriction order lifted in the Supreme Court of Tasmania in 2010, and had it replaced with a supervision order that allowed him back into the community under strict conditions.

On Monday, Coroner Simon Cooper handed down his findings into Menzies’s death after noting he had not been held in care or detained at the time, so a full inquest was not required.

Mr Cooper said on July 6 last year, Menzies – who was in his mid-70s – woke feeling unwell and was taken to the Royal Hobart Hospital.

He died several days later from pneumonia.

The coroner found his treatment at the hospital, and also by NDIS provider Lifestyle Solutions, was of “a good standard for many years”.

The Mercury previously reported that Menzies had an IQ of 51, putting him in the bottom 0.01 per cent of the population.

At the time, judge Peter Evans said a determination could not be made that Menzies was guilty because he did not have the capacity to articulate his case.

Menzies admitted he met the boy outside the entrance to the showgrounds in 2007 and paid for the child to go inside with him.

Police later found the boy after being called by neighbours who became suspicious when Menzies drew the blinds and deadlocked the door.