‘Guardians’ told Ayahuasca ceremony participants to ignore dying man, NSW inquest told

The death of Jarrad Antonovich at a retreat in the Northern Rivers region of NSW in 2021 is the subject of an inquest. Photograph: Supplied

Participants in an ayahuasca ceremony at a six-day retreat were instructed by so-called “guardians” to keep their eyes fixed towards the shaman conducting the ritual and away from the man dying metres away from them, a coroner has heard.

The fourth day of the inquest into the death of Jarrad Antonovich, being held in Lismore, heard from several participants in the ceremony at the Dreaming arts festival near Kyogle, in northern New South Wales, on 16 October 2021.