Peter Howard inquest: Coroner unable to decide if Adelaide dad died from suicide or spontaneous combustion

The family of a man who died in a horrific car fire have been left devastated after an inquest could not determine whether he committed suicide or died by spontaneous combustion.

The family of Peter Howard, 59, are heartbroken and say they ‘had hoped for some form of justice’ from the investigation into his death.

The beloved father of three was working at the Orora packaging plant in Adelaide’s north-west when his vehicle exploded on August 28, 2018.

He had bought three 20-litre jerry cans of fuel and parked right in front of the staff, just before his car caught fire.

South Australia’s deputy coroner Ian White presented his findings at the inquest on Thursday, almost six years after Howard’s death.

However, he could not determine whether the 59-year-old had died by suicide or spontaneous combustion.

The coroner heard that Mr Howard had worked for Orora for 27 years but was relentlessly bullied by a group of colleagues. Adelaide Advertiser reported.

In heartbreaking notes in his work diary, which he kept for 20 years, Howard detailed how his coworkers berated, teased and made fun of him.

In 2014, he made his first report of bullying at work.

“Many people have assumed for years leading up to this investigation that Howard’s death was an intentional suicide, in direct response to the bullying he was subjected to at work,” White said.

Mr. White recalls an incident on April 16, 2014, when a colleague played a prank on Mr. Howard.

“A colleague, acting alone, decided to put chili flakes in Mr. Howard’s liquor bottle without his knowledge. Mr. Howard was very upset by this prank,” he said.

‘On Thursday, March 18, 2015, an incident occurred where Mr. Howard’s forklift seat was tampered with by someone.’

Mr Howard’s GP, Dr Barry Nicholson, said the father raised the topic of ‘workplace issues’ 21 times during 105 visits over 28 years during his mental health care.

Orora’s HR manager claimed she had noticed “no pattern of bullying or intimidation from Mr Howard” prior to his death.

Mr White said he could not determine why the vehicle caught fire.

“Ultimately, the evidence does not allow me to conclude that he died by suicide or spontaneous combustion,” he said.

Members of Mr Howard’s grieving family attended court to hear the findings but left disappointed.

“I think Peter has been a total failure. A failure in the workplace,” his sister, Carmel Schwartz, told reporters.

‘No one is being held accountable.

‘He did everything humanly possible, but none of it worked.

‘I hoped [Mr White] would Peter have committed suicide and admit that bullying was the cause.’

Mr Howard’s wife, Sharon, could not bring herself to attend court during the investigation into the case.

“I think she’s exhausted by this process. I still had hope that we would get some measure of justice, but it wasn’t to be,” Ms. Schwartz said.

“He filled out incident reports, he spoke to his HR manager, he spoke to management, he spoke to colleagues. He did everything he could. He spoke to his GP, he did everything humanly possible and none of it worked.

“He could have applied for a stop-bullying order. You can go to the Fair Work Commission and apply for a stop-bullying order and they will be held to account.”

Mr Howard’s workplace has since made a number of changes in response to the tragedy.

“Orora takes its responsibilities for the health, safety and wellbeing of our people extremely seriously,” a spokeswoman told the ABC.

‘The company continues to invest in safety training, including comprehensive programs to recognize and address bullying and support the mental and physical health of our people.’

“We hope that the conclusion of this process will help resolve the situation for all concerned,” she said.

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