An 82-year-old man convicted of child sexual abuse offences died at Risdon Prison after a fall left him with a broken hip, a coronial inquest has found.
Maurice Geard died in the early hours of March 19 in the prison’s inpatient ward at Risdon Vale, where he had been receiving end-of-life care since September 2025.
Coroner Olivia McTaggart held an inquest in July, as required by law whenever someone dies in custody.
Geard was serving a 12-year sentence with a non-parole period of seven and a half years.
He was convicted in the Supreme Court of Tasmania in 2018 of aggravated sexual assault, indecent assault, rape and maintaining a sexual relationship with a person under 17.
Geard was housed in the low-security Ron Barwick unit and was in “very poor health” before his death.
His conditions included heart disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
On March 6, Geard fell from a chair in a witnessed incident and fractured the neck of his left femur.
He was taken to the Royal Hobart Hospital, where surgeons repaired his hip, before returning to palliative care at the prison on March 10.
Geard had an advance care directive stating he was not to be resuscitated and received visits from family members before he died.
McTaggart found the cause of death was hypostatic pneumonia following his recovery from hip surgery, with his existing serious health conditions also a significant factor.
She found the care he received in custody was of an “appropriate” standard.
“In particular, given his frailty and many medical conditions, the accidental fall contributing to his death could not have been reasonably prevented,” McTaggart said.
