Police questioned in inquest into Trevor King’s death in custody
ROLLING COVERAGE: The wife of an Indigenous man who died in police custody has given emotional testimony as the death is put under the spotlight at a coronial inquest.
Townsville
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DAY THREE UPDATE: The wife of an Indigenous man who died in police custody has given emotional testimony as the death is put under the spotlight at a coronial inquest.
Regina Mathieson has told the court she called Triple-0 out of concern for her partner Trevor King’s mental health.
The man who is known culturally as Noomba died in police custody on February 10, 2018 after two officers detained him for emergency mental health treatment. The officers are accused of shoving his face in the dirt and using a controversial neck hold to restrain him.
Shortly before his death, the 39-year-old was talking suicide after sniffing petrol at the family home.
She told the court that to her knowledge, before that night the father had never used inhalants and had never spoken of suicidal ideations.
“I was very worried at that time so I had to make that phone call,” she said.
When police arrived at the home Noomba was nowhere to be found, but officers found him walking in the direction of his home a few hours later.
Ms Mathieson gave evidence that she witnessed an officer place his body weight on Noomba as they tried to detain him.
“It was like he was gasping for air,” Noomba’s partner of 17 years told the court as she recalled what happened after police detained him.
Ms Mathieson said she recalled seeing him with his chest on the ground, hands cuffed behind his back and a police officer kneeling on his back.
Before he was detained, Ms Mathieson said she witnessed police and Noomba struggle before his arrest.
“I just seen the police officer grab onto him and just slam him down to the ground,” she said.
“I could hear the force and the feel of him grabbing Noomba and smashing him to the ground.”
The inquest into Noomba’s death entered it’s third day in Townsville. A number of his family members are due to give evidence.
During cross examination the lawyer acting on behalf of Queensland Police Union and for individual officers Constable Zachary Schembri and Constable Shane Warren Steve Hollands rejected Ms Maithesion’s version of events saying that neither officer pushed his head into the ground or had their arm against his neck while he was restrained on the ground.
As her emotional testimony came to an end, Ms Mathieson said she believed that Noomba had died while restrained on the ground and before he was placed in the ambulance.
“It just got to me that they had done nothing,” she said.
“They didn’t do CPR, nothing, they just stood there while he is laying motionless on the ground not breathing eyes shut.”
DAY TWO: Paramedics did not deliver oxygen or airway support to Trevor King after he went into cardiac arrest on the way to hospital, it was revealed on day two of the inquest into his death.
The inquest also heard that Constable Zachary Schembri, one of the police officers who restrained Mr King — culturally known as Noomba — travelled in the ambulance and performed CPR on him instead of the treating paramedic.
The inquest is determining if the attending police officers and paramedics acted appropriately in the lead up to Noomba’s death.
In the witness box, Christopher Robert Gee, the paramedic in charge of administering care said he made a “clinical decision” to use Constable Schembri to administer CPR.
Mr Gee said no oxygen or air way support was provided to Noomba because they were 4km from Townsville Hospital, despite him displaying a low level of consciousness.
It was at that time that Noomba then went into cardiac arrest.
Senior forensic pathologist Johan Duflou appeared via video link and was asked to provide his perspective on the autopsy report.
Professor Duflou said any person in cardiac arrest “should be getting supplementary oxygen” and the administration of that oxygen “should be high on the list of things to be done”.
Mr Gee said his priority was to get Noomba to hospital “as quickly as possible”.
Allan Henry Wallman, the other paramedic tasked on the night to the incident, also gave evidence at the inquest on Wednesday.
He said he and Mr Gee were given instructions to “stage” their ambulance due to safety concerns, but were flagged down by the police officers at the scene.
Mr Wallman said no clinical assessment of Noomba was made when he was on the ground and that he had “limited involvement” with him, but recalled he was breathing, grunting and groaning, and saliva was coming from his mouth before being put into the ambulance.
Doctor Paul Botterill conducted the autopsy on Noomba and told the inquest he found “no injuries” internally or externally to his neck.
Dr Botterill said Noomba’s heart was “enlarged”, weighing in at 460g and that two major arteries showed “significant narrowing”.
He concluded that underlying heart disease was the cause of death, however several other factors including the presence of drugs — including cannabis and hypo carbons, namely petrol — were significant contributors to the death.
Dr Botterill described the cause of death as “multi-factorial” but underlined heart disease as the most important factor stating it was “unlikely” other conditions would have caused death.
“But for the underlying heart disease, he may not have died that day.”
The actions of Constable Shane Warren were also scrutinised after it was revealed Noomba was not made aware that he was not under arrest before resting and subsequently throwing the “king hit” before he was restrained on the ground.
The inquest continues on Thursday.
DAY ONE: Shaky body-worn camera footage recorded the night an Indigenous man died in police custody in Townsville shows the last moments of his life.
Police grabbed the 39-year-old Townsville father around the neck, “wrestled” with him, pulled him to the ground and put him in handcuffs.
As he lay face down with his hands secured behind his back someone pushed his head down, slamming it into the dirt.
The man calls out that he is not OK. His laboured breathing is captured on video.
Neither the paramedics or police standing nearby check his vital signs.
Trevor King, known culturally as Noomba, was pronounced dead in hospital soon after, in the early hours of February 10, 2018.
The harrowing footage of his final moments shows his violent struggle with police abruptly switching from agitation, screaming “let me go”, to an “almost docile paralysis”, the lawyer representing the King family, Stewart Levitt said.
An inquest into the death began in Townsville on Tuesday asking the critical question: did the attending police officers and paramedics act appropriately in the circumstances.
Noomba’s wife Regina called police concerned for his welfare because he had been sniffing petrol was talking of suicide.
Officers could not find him when they arrived, but located him walking toward his home hours later while responding to another job.
Giving evidence during the first day of the inquest Constable Zachary Schembri, who is one of the officers who restrained him, said he and his partner Constable Shane Warren detained Noomba for emergency mental health evaluation.
He said the situation escalated when the man threw a closed fist punch at Constable Schembri.
The body-cam footage, which was turned on midway through the altercation, captures Noomba fighting back, repeatedly telling police he had done nothing wrong.
Before the arrest both officers were aware Noomba had a history of heart problems and that he had not been taking his medication.
“I was telling him he was not under arrest because he was not under arrest, he was not in trouble (and) I was telling him not to resist,” Constable Schembri said.
In his evidence Constable Warren described the punch as a “king hit”.
Mr Levitt rejected this claim, referring to interviews in the days after the death where Constable Schembri categorised the “punch” as the man forcibly raising his arm.
Also in the initial interviews, Constable Schembri said he used a controversial neck hold banned in other jurisdictions.
But, in court on Tuesday he walked back these claims and said he did not use the Lateral Vascular Neck Restraint, where arteries and veins in the neck are compressed.
By the time Noomba was put into the ambulance, Constable Schembri said he was drooling, limp and unconscious.
During cross examination, Mr Levitt asked the officers if they appropriately communicated to Noomba the reason for his arrest.
“(The legislation) says you must take reasonable steps to ensure that the person understands,” he said highlighting Noomba’s confusion as he was detained.
An internal police investigation in the months after the death found the actions of both officers did not breach any policies and that there was no criminal conduct.
The inquest continues.
Originally published as Police questioned in inquest into Trevor King’s death in custody
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