A CORONIAL inquest into the death of a man after an incident at Frankston Bunnings in 2016 has been completed.
31-year-old Anthony Georgiou died on 12 September 2016 after an alleged physical altercation with two security guards at Frankston Bunnings earlier in the day. Last week the coroner handed down a report into his death.
The report concluded that “there seems little doubt that had Georgiou not been involved in the struggle” then “he would have walked away from Bunnings that day.”
One of the security guards told the inquest that he had put Georgiou in a headlock, and that Georgiou said something along the lines of he couldn’t breathe.
The incident started after Georgiou allegedly stole a saw blade from the hardware store. The report concluded that the security guards then tried to arrest Georgiou and the struggle ensued.
The specialist forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Georgiou’s body wrote that the cause of death was “complications of methylamphetamine use in a setting of physical restraint in a man with cardiomegaly.”
The coroner was also not satisfied that either security guard had been provided with a copy of the Bunnings Code of Conduct as of the date of the incident.
The Coroner’s Court does not determine criminal or civil liability.
Bunnings’ director operations Ryan Baker said “we’re aware of the findings of the Victorian Coroners Court regarding this matter and our thoughts are with Mr Georgiou’s family at this time. We recognise this matter has been an exhaustive process, and will review the coroner’s recommendations in detail.”
