Son of one of 50 people who died at St Basil’s during Covid pandemic brought to tears outside court

The son of one of the 50 people who died in an aged care facility in Melbourne’s north says he’s glad the facility’s former managers will give evidence at an inquest. Spiros Vasilakis, son of Maria Vasilakis, was emotional outside the Coroners Court of Victoria on Thursday morning after the state coroner said the managers would be required to give evidence on August 3 at the coronial inquest into the deaths. The Fawkner not-for-profit was charged by the workplace regulator WorkSafe after 45 residents died from Covid-related complications and a further five from neglect and dehydration in the space of a month in 2020. At the beginning of the proceedings, a Greek interpreter read out the names of all 50 victims. “The reading of the names of those who died brings me to tears,” Mr Vasilakis said. “It’s hard, we’re talking six years down the track now. This (the coronial inquest) has been held up for a couple of years because of what happened with WorkSafe. “What was good today was that Kon Kontis and Vesna (‘Vicky’) Kos have been compelled to give evidence, and it’s the right thing that had to happen.” Former St Basil’s Home for the Aged chairman Mr Kontis and nursing director Ms Kos were ordered to testify at the coronial inquest into the deaths of the residents in December 2021. The pair had opposed the order to give evidence in the Supreme Court, but their appeal was unsuccessful and they will both be required to attend court and provide statements and evidence in August. “We need to know what happened in between what we were advised was happening and why it didn’t happen. There’s 50 people who are dead,” Mr Vasilakis said. St Basil’s Home for the Aged in Victoria was fined $150,000 in March this year after pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to maintain a safe working environment. At the time, Judge Trevor Wraight said that while many residents died, the case brought by WorkSafe was “limited to its failure to adequately train its employees”. “The evidence reveals the company was cognisant of its need to protect residents and staff,” he said. “In my view, St Basil’s was well aware of the risk … here there were weaknesses in the system that resulted in five of its employees not receiving appropriate training.”