Cell block officer tells inquest in hindsight he would have done things differently for woman who died after being arrested

The provincial inquest into the 2019 police custody death of Amanda Bolt continued Monday. CTV’s Nick Paparella reports.

Within minutes of her second arrest on Nov. 2, 2019, Amanda Bolt was asking London police officers in the cell block area at headquarters on Dundas Street that she wanted to go to hospital for medications.

Released from custody earlier that day so she could get her prescription medications from Chapman’s Pharmacy, a nearby drug store, the 28-year-old woman was re-arrested for breaching her conditions on domestic charges.

Sgt. Kevin Lui was in cells that night and told the inquiry, “I believed the medication she was seeking to get were not urgent...if these medications were so essential, why wouldn’t she make efforts to obtain them earlier?”

He continued, “She wasn’t showing outward signs of being intoxicated by drugs, she wasn’t slurring her words, so it didn’t lead me to believe she was in immediate need of medical care.”

The inquest, which started last week, has heard Bolt had a long list of medical and mental health issues and that she took medications for her heart.

Hours after being placed in cells, Bolt went into medical distress in the middle of the night and would be rushed to Victoria Hospital where she would die 10 days later of cardiac arrest.

Asked what he would do differently, Lui said, “In hindsight I would have listened more and asked more questions.”

The officer told the jury he would recommend more staff and resources be made available in the cell block area at headquarters.

Before wrapping up he told the Bolt family, “I hope this inquest can give you a small measure of closure.”

The inquest resumes this week.