00:01It was a tragic death that shocked a tight-knit community and people far beyond.
00:07A boy deceased in an industrial bin in Port Lincoln in May 2021.
00:12More than five years on, Bada Spencer, the name his family has provided for cultural reasons,
00:18was described at an inquest before Deputy State Coroner Naomi Keruru
00:22as a kind storyteller who made friends laugh.
00:25The loss sparked an outpouring of grief in Port Lincoln at the time,
00:30with the inquest hearing the tragic details leading up to the 13-year-old's death
00:34when the bin he'd been sleeping in with two others was collected by a truck on a routine round.
00:40The trio had not slept in the bin before this night, Council Assisting Rebecca Schell said.
00:46It was tipped into the truck with one friend scrambling out to frantically warn the driver who leapt in, trying
00:53to help.
00:53The child witnessing his friend's death as Bada also tried to climb to safety.
00:58Bada Spencer attempted to climb out in the same way.
01:02His friend told him to stay down, Michelle told the court.
01:06The Deputy Coroner was told Bada Spencer's friends were both under the care of the Department for Child Protection, but
01:12he was not.
01:13The inquest heard the boy had been missing for five days before his death.
01:17The police located him on one occasion during that time,
01:21but when they attempted to bring him to his house, he absconded when no-one answered the door.
01:26The court also heard Bada was also spotted at a youth event
01:29and had previously been sleeping at a football oval in Port Lincoln.
01:33The inquest is expected to hear from various agencies, including the DCP.
01:38It will ask, was he appropriately supported by various agencies?
01:42If not, what intervention should have been initiated by the department?
01:46Bada's family is attending the inquest, which continues in Port Lincoln this week before moving to Adelaide.
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