A criminal case against a Victorian aged care home, central to a deadly 2020 COVID-19 outbreak, has faced a delay due to a document oversight.
Defence lawyers for St. Basil’s Home for the Aged were denied access to key state coronial documents one day before a three-day committal hearing was due to take place at the Magistrate’s Court on Feb. 7.
These documents, containing evidence on the COVID-19 outbreak at St. Basil’s, were to be used by the defence as key evidence in their case against WorkSafe.
But on Feb. 7, when the case was called, defence lawyer Conor O’Bryan applied for an adjournment to the case to allow him time to speak to state coroner John Cain, and to allow the “necessary steps” of securing access to the documents.
A coronial investigation into the deaths of 45 residents from a COVID-19 outbreak in July 2020 at St. Basil’s has been placed on hold pending the outcome of the criminal case.
The defence said their case would be “hamstrung” without the documents, and that the adjournment was an “unfortunate situation.”
Despite WorkSafe prosecutors arguing that the defence had nine months to prepare for the case, magistrate Jarrod Williams agreed to adjourn the case for six weeks.
“Very regrettably I am of the view this matter is to be adjourned in the circumstances,” Mr. Williams said.
“It’s a question of defence being able to properly explore the issues identified.”
Charges Laid Against St. Basil’s
WorkSafe has charged St. Basil’s Home for The Aged in Victoria with nine breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act following a 23-month investigation into the July 2020 incident.WorkSafe alleges that after being notified by a worker that they had tested positive for COVID-19 in July 2020, St. Basil’s failed to train, verify, supervise, and enforce the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) among its staff.
As such, WorkSafe alleges that St. Basil’s failed to provide and maintain for its employees, as far as reasonably practicable, a working environment that was safe and without health risks.
St. Basil’s is also alleged to have failed to ensure that persons other than its employees were not exposed to risks to their health or safety arising from the conduct of its undertaking.
If found guilty, St. Basil’s faces a potential maximum penalty of 9,000 penalty points ($1.49 million at the time of the alleged offence) for each of the nine breaches.
