The jury hears the security guard who detained the man who later died in Victoria Hospital

The inquest into the death of a 43-year-old man who died in the psychiatric ward of the Royal Jubilee Hospital (RJH) in 2019 continued today (13 September) with the testimony of hospital security staff who arrested him for allegedly attempting to leave the ward.

Paul Spencer was involuntarily admitted to the RJH Psychiatric Emergency Department (PES) shortly after midnight on 27 September 2019 after being arrested by police due to concerns about his mental health.

Earlier this week, the jury heard from the Saanich police officer and psychiatric nurse who admitted him to the unit, who described him at the time as “even-tempered” and “calm by nature” and said he had shown no signs of aggression.

Guiseppe Moonie-Tkachuk was the Island Health security officer who first responded to the incident. He said when Spencer got up to leave the unit, he was uncooperative with a nurse and the officer. That prompted the nurse to order Moonie-Tkachuk to take Spencer to an isolation room.

Moonie-Tkachuk told the court he had reason to believe the nurses were afraid because of his body language, his “glazed” look and his inability to follow the instructions of hospital staff.

“He was determined not to belong in this department,” Moonie-Tkachuk said in court on September 12.

A video presented to the jury showed Moonie-Tkachuk attempting to restrain Spencer, whereupon both fell to the ground and Moonie-Tkachuk attempted to arrest Spencer.

The video shows three other security officers coming to Moonie-Tkachuk's aid. One of them, Ross Walker, “kneeled” Spencer and struck him three times in the upper body and torso while attempting to get him into the position to be handcuffed.

Two of the officers who testified on Thursday, September 12 (Walker and Mattaius Brueckl) said the beating was a reasonable use of force.

“These were absolutely controlled punches. They are called rabbit punches, they are short, precise, low punches with reduced force,” Walker said in court.

Brueckl said he would do the same thing in a similar situation where he was dealing with a person he “cannot control.”

Richard Neary, Spencer's family's attorney, questioned the officers' incident reports because they contained inconsistencies.

Moonie-Tkachuk's report of the incident stated that Spencer was suicidal, which was not true, and noted that he observed Spencer run to the PES unit door and “bum into it.” In reality, however, he admitted that he was alerted by a nurse that Spencer was attempting to leave the unit.

The report written by Moonie-Tkachuk also noted that Walker struck Spencer with the palm of his hand, even though the video shows Walker striking Spencer with a clenched fist. Neary questioned whether Moonie-Tkachuk lied in his report to justify his use of force.

“You are trying to paint a picture that makes Mr. Spencer seem more dangerous and risky than he was because he ended up dead. That is a motive to exaggerate your observations in your report,” Neary told Moonie-Tkachuk, who denied the allegation.

After Spencer was finally handcuffed, the video showed him being taken to the isolation room, which only had cameras for live streaming.

Officers described laying him face down on a mattress, removing his shoes, pants and handcuffs, then handcuffing him with a blanket. Moonie-Tkachuk's report noted that they wrapped him in a blanket “like a burrito,” and the other two officers claimed they actually tied the blanket in a loose knot around his ankles. However, since there is no footage from the room, it is unclear who was right.

They left Spencer in the room and returned eight minutes later to administer sedatives. Spencer was found dead, but the cause of death is still unknown.

The inquest will continue next week, and the jury will hear from more medical experts and scientists. The jury will ultimately make recommendations for systemic changes to prevent similar deaths in the future.