Alo Ngata died in a police cell in mid-2018. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
The mother of a man who died after being left face-down in a police cell with an incorrectly fitted spit hood covering his face says the coroner's inquest will give her and the family some closure.
Although police policy required Alo Ngata to be constantly monitored, it was not until CCTV footage showed his hands not moving and starting to change colour, that officers went to his aid.
He died in hospital two days later, in July 2018.
The man's family filled the public gallery at the Auckland District Court hearing today, which is expected to run all week.
His mother Alofa Ngata said they had waited four years for the hearing.
"It's more like a prayer answered to get some form of closure."
She was at a church conference in Tonga in 2018 when she received a call to come home and see her son - that it could be his final days.
Now she said they were facing the inquest in the hope any changes recommended at the end would prevent similar deaths.
"With lots of prayer for a day like this I'm feeling that extra comfort to sit down and take everything [in] because it's not going to change the past but it might change the future."
Coroner Matthew Bates said the inquest would cover the causes and circumstances of Ngata's death and make recommendations for change accordingly.
The hearing would consider Ngata's deteriorating mental health and if he was engaged in treatment, and what caused his behaviour that led to his arrest - methamphetamine use or a combination of that and declining mental health.
It would also cover whether tactical options employed by the police contributed to his death.
Bates said the inquest aimed to find out "just where did things go wrong, if indeed it can be said they did go wrong" and "as the evidence unfolds it maybe that the conduct of individuals or organisations are called into question. That may lead into my recommendations for change".
Ngata was on meth when he was arrested in 2018 after assaulting an 81-year-old man in Auckland's Freeman's Bay - members of the public witnessed the attack and called the police.
After being tasered, pepper sprayed and heavily restrained, he was left face-down in a police cell with an incorrectly-fitted spit hood covering his face.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) released its report in August 2020, identifying multiple failures by the officers who restrained Ngata.
Ngata's arrest was difficult and highly physical, and the IPCA found the use of tasers and pepper spray justified.
However, once in the custody unit, officers failed to assess his well-being and interpreted his incoherent attempts to talk as a sign of breathing.
Police and custody officers called as witnesses today gave evidence about what happened when Ngata was transported to a cell and how he was restrained and monitored thereafter.
This custody officer was one who helped take off the man's restraints and said he remembered Ngata was very strong and acting as if "off his rocker".
"He was violent, he was moving, he was struggling the whole time," he said.
But the spit hood was left on.
"I was going to take it off but my sergeant said just leave it on he can take it off himself, so we left it on him."
Officers administered CPR in the cell when they realised Ngata was not responsive, and he was taken to hospital in an ambulance.
The inquest continues.