“Loving” court worker’s son commended for first aid bravery

Thursday 20 June 2019

The teenage son of a popular Magistrate's Court administrator, believed to have died at work due to complications from a rare and undetected illness, has been commended for his bravery in administering CPR when he found him collapsed.

The praise for Jasper Clively came during an inquest held this morning, which aimed to establish the cause of death of his father, Greffier Substitute Neill Clively, who passed away aged 52.

Although it could not ascertain the specific cause, the inquest heard that the Magistrate's Court worker’s “untimely” death was most likely caused by complications arising from an extremely “rare” auto-immune disease which was undiagnosed during his lifetime.

Held at Morier House, the inquest was attended by many, including family members, colleagues and the Magistrate's Court's most senior judge, Bridget Shaw.

Pictured: The Magistrate's Court, where Mr Clively was Greffier Substitute.

The inquest heard that Jasper and his mother Paula had gone to find Mr Clively at the Court when he hadn’t returned home on the evening of 28 December last year. When they found he had collapsed, Jasper immediately began attempts to revive his father through mouth-to-mouth and CPR, while Paula called for an ambulance.

Explaining what happened that day, the teenager said in his witness statement that he had “learned first aid in the Scouts so it came like second nature to me”, later adding that his father’s death “hit [him] very hard”, and that he is “still having difficulties coming to terms with it."

Advocate Mark Harris, presiding over the inquest as Coroner, made a special commendation of Jasper’s bravery, saying: “It’s something that many people don’t want to do and get involved with… [but] the fact that you did was the right thing at the time.”

Consultant Pathologist Dr Miklos Perenyei, who carried out the post-mortem examination on Mr Clively, suggested the 52-year-old suffered with a rare inflammatory condition called IgG4-related disease - a condition he said he had never diagnosed in his 30-year career before now. He concluded that this was the likely underlying cause of death.

Pictured: The inquest took place at Morier House.

Having heard that Mr Clively had collapsed several times in the months before his “sad and untimely death” in December, Dr Perenyei also told the inquest that he suspected he also suffered with a form of epilepsy, causing him to suffer with seizures.

Paula – who was married to Mr Clively for around 25 years – described him as a “loving husband and a great father”, adding: “He will be remembered as a kind, helpful, caring man with a great sense of humour.”

Elsewhere in the inquest, Mr Clively's funny streak was remembered, with him being described as “the entertainer” in his office.

A colleague of his, who was one of the last people to see him alive when she left work the afternoon before he collapsed, described him as being his “usual, cheeky self” that day and that since he passed away, the “atmosphere” at work is “different… actually broken.”

Pictured: The Pathologist who carried out the post-mortem gave evidence at the inquest.

“He was such a character, a really nice man and we all loved him,” she said.

Advocate Harris concluded the inquest by ruling Mr Clively’s death as “likely due to natural causes” and although, officially, the Pathologist could not ascertain a specific cause of death, the “underlying and contributing cause” was the undiagnosed inflammatory disease.

The Coroner closed by expressing his condolences to Mr Clively’s family and friends for their loss.