Late Wednesday afternoon, a seven-person jury at a public inquest decided the death of a man three years ago at St. Joseph's Hospital while held in police custody was one of natural causes.The inquest, which took three days in the Campbell River courthouse, examined the death of George Alfred Jones, 40, who died in January 2009 after going into medical distress while detained in police cells in Courtenay. He was rushed to hospital, where he died the next day. The jury noted Jones was an alcoholic who was suffering from seizures and was taking anti-depressants. They decided he died from fatal cardiac dysrhythmia.While the jury cannot, by law, make any findings of legal responsibility, it had the opportunity to make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths under similar circumstances in the future.They recommended examining the handling of medication when people are brought into custody, and suggested St. Joseph's Hospital as well as all B.C. hospitals be connected to a provincewide database that includes admittance and all patient hospital information.photos@comoxvalleyrecord.com
