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Investigations into death ongoing

Investigations into death ongoing

Thursday 05 March 2020

Investigations into death ongoing

Thursday 05 March 2020


An inquest looking into the cause of Matthew Bourgaize's death has opened, but it has been adjourned as enquiries continue to try and find out what he was doing in the time after he disappeared.

Mr Bourgaize's body was found in the water at Havelet Bay on Sunday 9 February this year. He had not been seen since he was reported missing on Saturday 11 January.

He was last seen that afternoon by his partner, whom he was speaking to just before he disappeared, while he was an impatient on the Crevichon Ward at the Oberlands. 

oberlands

Pictured: Mr Bourgaize was last seen by his girlfriend, at the Oberlands facility. 

He had been admitted to the ward after being detained by Guernsey Police and brought to the Emergency Department at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital, where he was assessed as being "clearly mentally ill". While on the ward he reportedly showed some "slightly unusual behaviour".  

His partner came to visit him every day during his time on the ward, and they were allowed to meet in the public foyer of the Oberlands facility. On Saturday 11 January, they met as usual, and he told her he didn't like it on the ward and was bored. The inquest heard that when she went to the bathroom, Mr Bourgaize left as he was not there when she returned.

CCTV footage captured the moment he walked out of the building, and the last confirmed sighting of him was that afternoon, on a private CCTV at 15:30 on Fort Road.

Matthew Bourgaize

Pictured: Matthew Bourgaize was caught on CCTV leaving the Oberlands, and later walking along Fort Road. 

At 08:30 on Sunday 9 February a man saw a body in Havelet bay, which was later recovered by the lifeboat crew. DNA tests have since confirmed the body belonged to Mr Bourgaize. 

Judge Graeme McKerrell was told that enquiries have not yet been completed, and he adjourned the inquest indefinitely, and offered his condolences to Mr Bourgaize's family. 

Pictured top: Mr Bourgaize was resident at the Crevichon Ward when he managed to leave, and has since been found dead. 

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