Jury deliberates recommendations at inquest looking into death of London, Ont. woman in police custody

The provincial inquest into the police custody death of Amanda Bolt continued Thursday with jury deliberations. CTV London’s Nick Paparella reports.

Following six days of evidence and submissions the jury started deliberating its recommendations on Thursday afternoon.

The coroner’s inquest was called following the death of Amanda Bolt, 28, who was in the cell block area at London Police Service headquarters on Dundas Street after being arrested twice on the same day in November of 2019.

During the closing submissions, the jury heard some suggested recommendations.

Inquest Counsel Indira Stewart told the jury, “A lot of changes have been made at the HDU [holding cell detention unit] since Ms. Bolt.”

However, she added that more training to help officers assess the well-being of those who are brought into the cell area may be needed, along with improving information sharing between officers during shift changes.

The inquest heard Bolt faced many complex health and mental challenges over her lifetime.

She died from cardiac arrest 10 days after being rushed to hospital from the jail cell area.