Man had drunk a litre of bourbon, court trial hears
A man who died in a Taranaki police cell had earlier drunk at least a litre of bourbon, the New Plymouth High Court was told.
Three officers from Ha¯wera are accused of failing to provide Allen Ball with the care he needed following his arrest late on May 31, 2019, after a family harm incident.
Ball was intoxicated at the time of his arrest and had threatened suicide. He had started to snore in the back of the police car on the way to Ha¯ wera station and could not be woken.
The cause of death was codeine, tramadol and alcohol toxicity, but the Crown alleges the officers, who have name suppression until the verdict, contributed to the 55-year-old’s death in the early hours of June 1 by not getting him the medical help he needed.
The trial before Justice Susan Thomas continued yesterday with 11 jurors after one was discharged.
Constable Chloe Ashton, who had been called to the family harm incident, gave evidence about hearing an announcement over the radio to call an ambulance.
She saw two of the accused in the cell with Ball, one checking for breathing and a pulse.
Ashton was asked to contact Ball’s partner to see if he had taken anything other than alcohol.
Ball’s partner said he had consumed at least a litre of bourbon, but she was not aware of anything else, the court heard.
Defence lawyer Andrew Laurenson then asked about Ball’s threats to commit suicide and whether Ball’s partner had said ‘‘he’s full of s .... ’’.
‘‘I can’t recall her exact words but our understanding was there was no concern,’’ Ashton said.
Crown Prosecutor Jacob Bourke then questioned a member of Fire and Emergency NZ who was on a police ride-along that night.
Defence lawyer Susan Hughes QC asked: ‘‘Nothing you saw was inconsistent with [the officers’] belief that he was a drunk sleeping off a bender?’’ He agreed. Earlier in the day, Senior Sergeant Kyle Davie, who formerly oversaw Ha¯wera Police Station, said there were policies to deal with intoxicated detainees.
In some cases that may require an ambulance to come and see them, and in some situations ‘‘it may require taking them straight through to hospital’’.
Davie said the the three accused were part of ‘‘the highest performing team in a number of areas in our work group’’.
‘‘I always felt reassured when they were on.’’
Crown prosecutor Cherie Clarke asked about a performance review which stated one of the accused officers was ‘‘dismissive of wider police principles’’.
Davie explained that the officer did not see the value in the words and jargon of a performance framework, and was focused on going out and doing their job.
He said it was not uncommon to leave a drunk person to sleep it off. Defence lawyer Hughes asked if it was true that the Ha¯wera staff had not received training in custody management and care.
Davie said to the best of his knowledge that was the case.
Defence lawyer Laurenson asked if the only custodial management training police receive was an online course taking 10-20 minutes every two years.
Davie agreed it was a 20-minute procedure.
The trial will continue today.