Sincere Standtrue inquest: Gloriavale member says young man ‘miserable’ before death
A former Gloriavale member has told the inquest into the death of a young member in 2018 that the 20-year-old was miserable at the Christian community.
Sincere Standtrue died at Christchurch Hospital 10 days after he was found unresponsive at Gloriavale’s paint shop, where he worked.
An inquest is being held in Greymouth to determine the cause and circumstances of his death, including whether it may have been self-inflicted.
On Friday the court heard from Clem Ready, who was a member of the Christian community for about 40 years before he left in late 2018.
Ready said he spent the most time around Standtrue in early 2018 when they were both working on the construction of a new school.
During this project he saw first-hand how Standtrue was treated by others, which troubled him, he said.
“I think that in the hierarchy of his painting team he was on the lowest rung. I found if I did ask Sincere a direct question in the presence of his workmates, someone else always jumped in and answered before he could,” Ready said.
“It seemed that Sincere got drowned out or overlooked and nobody in the team showed him much respect.”
Ready believed the only people who treated Standtrue well in Gloriavale were his close relatives.
This was disputed by Gloriavale’s lawyer, Isaac Cummings, who put to Ready that other members of the community had shown Standtrue respect, including friends and workmates.
The inquest previously heard from Gloriavale members who knew Standtrue from work and school.
Ready said he was “very upset” when he heard that Standtrue had been found unresponsive at the community’s paint shop on 23 October 2018.