Sisters’ year-long fight for answers
A year-long fight for answers and justice is finally nearing a close for the sisters of a man who died in police custody.
Police have laid manslaughter charges against three Taranaki officers in connection to the death of a 55-year-old man at the Ha¯wera police station in the early hours of June 1, 2019.
‘‘It’s been hell,’’ the man’s younger sister said yesterday.
‘‘We’ve been fighting a long time to get a little bit of justice.’’
The Australia-based siblings, who cannot be identified due to the man’s name being suppressed at the request of the coroner, have found comfort in the charges, the younger sister said. ‘‘But it doesn’t take away the pain.’’
The women learned the police officers had been charged on Tuesday night.
This came as a shock to them after being told only months prior that charges would not be laid, the man’s older sister said.
And while that was a huge blow for the family, who believed police had failed their brother, they weren’t prepared to give up.
‘‘It’s been a long, hard year. Lots of emails, lots of phone calls,’’ she said. ‘‘At least now we have justice. Some justice anyway.’’
Police say the decision to file charges was made after a thorough investigation and consideration of legal advice from the New Plymouth Crown Solicitor and a Queen’s Counsel.
The family say from the outset they were left in the dark by police regarding the circumstances of the man’s death and the following investigations, the older sister said.
It wasn’t until they made a complaint to the Independent Police Conduct Authority that they began to receive information, she said. The were both ‘‘devastated’’ their brother had died while in the care of police.
‘‘It’s really hard to think that, you know, someone in charge should have known better,’’ the older sister said.
‘‘He should have been taken straight to hospital as soon as he was unresponsive.’’
The woman claimed police told them the man was unresponsive when he arrived at the police station. ‘‘We were told four officers carried him inside. From that moment he should have been taken to hospital, as far as we’re concerned.’’
The man had been taken into custody after police officers were called to a family harm incident at a Ha¯wera address about 11.30pm on May 31, 2019.
A police spokesperson previously said a routine check of the man found him unresponsive and police staff performed CPR until ambulance staff arrived.
Paramedics continued CPR for more than 30 minutes before the man was pronounced dead.
The man’s former employer described him as a ‘‘top bloke’’.
‘‘He worked for us for 10 years, he was like family, he was like a second dad to our kids,’’ the former employer said. ‘‘He was an amazing employee, in 10 years we didn’t have one argument.
‘‘My last words to him were that he was staying with us until he retired, which would have been another 10 years. That was on May 31st last year.’’
Three Taranaki police officers facing trial for the death of a man in custody are believed to be the first serving officers charged with manslaughter for an on-duty incident.
Yesterday, three police officers appeared in court in relation to the death of a 55-year-old man who died while in custody at the Ha¯wera Police Station in the early hours of June 1, 2019.
It has been alleged the officers were grossly negligent in their duty of care to the victim and that this negligence was a causal factor in his death.
In the past 20 years 34 people have died in police custody.
Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) general manager Warren Young said he could not remember any officers being charged with manslaughter for a death in custody.
Young said he had been in his role since 2013 and IPCA records went back to 2008. He believed there had been no charges in this time, but could not say there were none in earlier decades.
Between 2010-2020, seven people died in police custody, Young said.
Between 2000 and 2010, 27 people died in police custody in
New Zealand.
In July 2012 the IPCA published a report which evaluated each of the 27 deaths over the 10-year period to 2010 to find if they were preventable.
Four of those deaths involved serious neglect of duty or breaches of policy by police, but no one, it appears, was charged in relation to the deaths.
The review found although errors were made in some cases, it did not mean the person’s death would have been avoided if these errors had not been made.
Ten of those deaths were suicide, seven followed police restraint during arrest, seven were caused by the detainee’s medical condition and three were due to drug-related causes.
Of the deaths, 14 involved people affected by mental health issues. In 13 cases those who died were affected by alcohol when arrested, while in nine cases they were affected by drugs.
The review found recurring factors across the 27 deaths, including: the effect of alcohol or drugs, mental health issues, police methods of restraint and the danger of restraint asphyxia, problems with the monitoring of detainees, the provision of medical treatment to detainees, handover procedures, the safety of police cells and the need for more extensive training of custody staff. The name of the man who died in Ha¯wera has been suppressed at the request of the coroner.
He had been arrested for assault after police were called to a family harm incident about 11.30pm on May 31, 2019.
The man was intoxicated when he was taken to the Princes St police station.
During a routine check the man was found unresponsive and police staff performed CPR until ambulance staff arrived.
A volunteer fire crew was called to assist about 2.30am. Paramedics continued CPR for more than 30 minutes before the man was pronounced dead.