The family of a man who died in a horrific car fire have been left devastated after an inquest failed to determine whether he died by suicide or spontaneous combustion.
The heartbroken family of Peter Howard, 59, said they were “hoping to get some level of justice” from the inquest into his death.
The well-loved father of three was working at the Orora packing facility in Adelaide’s north-west when his vehicle exploded on August 28, 2018.
He had bought three 20-litre jerrycans of fuel and parked in full view of staff shortly before his car caught fire.
South Australia state deputy coroner Ian White presented the results of his inquest on Thursday, nearly six years after Howard’s death.
However, he could not conclude whether the 59-year-old man died by suicide or spontaneous combustion.
The coroner heard that Mr Howard had spent 27 years working for Orora but was relentlessly bullied by a group of fellow workers, the Adelaide Advertiser reported.
In harrowing diary entries he kept for 20 years, Howard detailed how colleagues abused him, mocked him and played pranks on him.
Peter Howard (pictured with his wife Sharo in 2017) died in a car fire on August 28, 2018.
She filed her first complaint for workplace harassment in 2014.
“For many years prior to this investigation, many people had assumed that Mr. Howard’s death was an intentional suicide in direct response to the harassment he had been subjected to in his workplace,” White said.
Mr. White recalled an incident on April 16, 2014, when a co-worker played a prank on Mr. Howard.
“A co-worker, acting alone, decided to put chili flakes in Mr. Howard’s drink bottle without his knowledge. Mr. Howard became extremely upset by this prank,” he said.
‘On Thursday 18 March 2015, an incident occurred where someone tampered with the seat of Mr Howard’s forklift.’
An inquest on Thursday ruled it could not determine whether Howard (pictured) died by suicide or spontaneous combustion.
The father of three died after his car exploded outside the Orora packaging plant in north-west Adelaide.
Mr Howard’s GP, Dr Barry Nicholson, said the father had referred to “work issues” when discussing his mental health 21 times in 105 visits over 28 years.
Orora’s human resources manager said she had “not identified a pattern of bullying and harassment against Mr Howard” before his death.
Mr White said he could not conclude why the vehicle had caught fire.
“Ultimately, the evidence does not leave me comfortably satisfied in finding that he died by suicide or by spontaneous ignition,” he said.
Members of Mr Howard’s grieving family were in court to hear the results and left disappointed.
“I think Peter has been a complete failure. A failure at work,” his sister Carmel Schwartz told reporters.
“No one is held accountable.”
‘He did everything humanly possible and nothing worked.
“I was hoping that (Mr. White) would discover that Peter had committed suicide and acknowledge that bullying was the cause.”
Howard’s family was devastated by the coroner’s findings on Thursday. He is pictured here with his wife Sharon
Mr Howard’s wife, Sharon, was unable to attend court throughout the inquest.
“I think this process has worn her down. She still had hopes that justice would be served, but it wasn’t,” Schwartz said.
‘She filled out incident reports, she spoke to her HR manager, to management, to coworkers. She did everything she could. She spoke to her GP, she did everything humanly possible and none of it worked.
“I could have brought an order to stop the harassment. You can go to the Fair Work Commission and bring an order to stop the harassment and then they will be held accountable.”
Mr Howard’s workplace has since implemented a number of changes in the wake of the tragedy.
“Orora takes its responsibilities for the health, safety and well-being of our people very seriously,” a spokeswoman said. ABC.
‘The company continues to invest in safety training, including comprehensive programs to identify and respond to harassment and support the mental and physical health of our people.’
“We hope that the completion of this process will help bring some sort of closure to all those involved,” he said.
For 24-hour confidential support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.
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