Stephen Puantulura in mental health crisis put in spit hood spends 100 days on remand

A man with known mental health issues was restrained in a controversial restraint device with his pants around his ankles at the Palmerston police station.

A man with schizophrenia was restrained in a spit hood with his pants down in a Territory police watch house.

Stephen Puantulura, 54, was charged with assault after he tried and failed to spit at an officer from the back of a paddy wagon at Palmerston Police Station.

The court heard the Palmerston long grasser was off his medication when he was taken into custody about midday on October 27.

Puantulura, who had a known history of mental health issues, refused to provide police his name and spat on the floor of the cop car.

Custody Sergeant Marek Hutchinson-Goncz approached the locked-up man and “attempted to reason with (him) in an effort to get him to cease his behaviour and spitting”, court documents said.

Puantulura then attempted to spit directly in the officer’s face, but the officer dodged the spit.

The 54-year-old was then placed in a spit hood, a restraint device banned from police use in Queensland and South Australia, and are not in use in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.

A police statement of agreed facts did not clarify the method of restraint, only saying he was “secured” at the Palmerston watch house before being released.

His lawyer Louise Marshall told Darwin Local Court while the 54-year-old was in the restraint “his pants were around his ankles while his face was held down on a desk in a spit hood”.

Ms Marshall said Puantulura was “embarrassed” that he was exposed, as there were women in the police station.

No details or charges were provided explaining Puantulura’s initial arrest which resulted in the spit hood use.

Ms Marshall said his behaviour was largely due to the 54-year-old being off his medication, which could trigger depression and impulsive behaviour particularly when exposed to stressful events like an arrest.

Puantulura was arrested 45 days later over an alleged assault at the Puma Service Station, after reportedly trying to take drinks from a fridge at 3am before a worker and a male customer intervened.

The mentally ill man allegedly headbutted and kicked the worker in the shin, and attempted to hit the customer.

Court documents said while the men were “shaken”, the only injury was a grazed elbow.

Puantulura was arrested and charged with two counts of assault. But after 100 days on remand in Holtze prison, prosecutors dropped the charges completely.

Judge Tanya Fong Lim said Puantulura had been on remand for 100 days, amid overcrowding and understaffing in Darwin Prison.

“I know usually (prison) is difficult to experience, but presently it is more difficult,” she said.

“You have spent a significant time on remand … and that possibly your mental health condition is something that contributes to your behaviour.”

On January 9 Ms Fong Lim sentenced Puantulura to one month in prison, far below the two and a half months he had already served.

Ms Fong Lim ordered that the 54-year-old be released immediately.

Originally published as Stephen Puantulura in mental health crisis put in spit hood spends 100 days on remand