An inquest into the death of Gloriavale man Sincere Standtrue is underway in Greymouth. Photo: Supplied / Gloriavale
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary about a Gloriavale man on the day he was found unresponsive in the Christian community in 2018, an inquest has heard.
Sincere Standtrue, who was 20, died in hospital after being found unresponsive in 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.
The court heard from Gloriavale woman Hope Disciple on Tuesday, who believed she might have been the last person to see Standtrue before he was found on 23 October 2018.
She shared a joke with him outside the paint shop in the late afternoon on that day.
He seemed "friendly, personable and happy", she said.
"When I spoke with him there was nothing about him that struck me as out of the ordinary, or different. He was just himself to me," Disciple said.
Disciple said her and Standtrue's families lived near each other in the community.
She described Standtrue as generally an open and happy person.
"He was happy to talk to everyone, he was outgoing and communicative. Younger people often seemed to be immersed in their own things, but he would take the time to talk and to engage with children.
"When he was younger I can remember sometimes he would act on impulse without thinking it through properly."
The inquest also heard from another Gloriavale member, Hopeful Christian, who was friends with Standtrue and went through school with him.
"Sincere and I weren't the favourite kids so we gravitated towards each other," he said.
Christian said after they left school they worked together on jobs around the community because he was a builder and Standtrue was a painter.
"I definitely know when he left school he was a lot happier... He liked working and he liked accomplishing things that gave him a sense of satisfaction.
"I don't think I'd seen Sincere for a couple of days before he died. He was painting a project that I had built. It was a barn for the playground.
"We moved it into the paint shed and I worked in there on it for a day with Sincere. Then Sincere started painting it. That would be about three days before he died."
Sincere Standtrue was found unresponsive in the community's paint shop where he worked on October 23, 2018. Photo: Supplied by Coroner's Court/Sergeant Litherland
The inquest previously heard from Standtrue's sister, Rose, who said her brother was often isolated, shamed, and bullied at Gloriavale.
Rose Standtrue said multiple Gloriavale members and senior leaders picked on her brother.
"As soon as [I was told Sincere was found unresponsive], I immediately thought that someone had done this to him as he was subject to bullying throughout his life," she said.
Yesterday, one of the Gloriavale leaders, Peter Righteous told the inquest he never saw any serious bullying of Standtrue.
He said he thought the interactions were typical for primary-aged kids.
There was a bit of teasing, a bit of ragging, but on the whole Standtrue seemed to get on well with the other children, he said.
"Boys will do things behind your back but I never saw any outright bullying, ugly behaviour. They all teased each other.
"I never saw any outright ugly bullying of Sincere Standtrue, and if I had seen some, I would have dealt with it," Righteous said.
The inquest continues.
