Police arrested Alo Ngata, 29, in central Auckland and put a spit hood on him. He was later found unresponsive. Photo / NZME
Police arrested Alo Ngata, 29, in central Auckland and put a spit hood on him. He was later found unresponsive. Photo / NZME
After his arrest, Alo Ngata lay unmoving in a police cell with a spit hood covering his face, put on his head by a police officer doing it for the first time in a real-life situation.
She was the most junior officer and the last to arrive on the scene that day, a coronial inquest into Ngata's death has heard.
Family members and supporters filled the public gallery of the Auckland District Courtroom today on the first day of the hearing before Coroner Matthew Bates.
Ngata's mother Alofa Ngata led a moving karakia at its opening, saying the day had been "four years in waiting".
Her 29-year-old son was declared brain-dead and died in hospital days after his arrest in mid-2018.
Summarising the case at the start of the hearing, Coroner Bates said police had attended to an argument between Ngata and his partner one day before his arrest.
The attending officer saw Ngata showing bizarre behaviour and talking about seeing ghosts and spirits in the house.
The next day, on July 1, 2018, Ngata was in a heated argument with his partner at home when he suddenly leapt to his feet, went out onto the road and attacked an elderly stranger, punching him and knocking him to the ground.
A resident who saw the incident unfold told the inquest he saw Ngata moving erratically, roaring at the sky, and jumping around like he was on drugs.
The man also heard Ngata's partner repeatedly yelling "Don't do this, I love you."
When the police Eagle helicopter arrived Ngata jumped up and down, flailing his arms in a defiant gesture at the helicopter, before turning to the elderly man and assaulting him once more, knocking the 81-year-old victim out.
Ngata then moved toward the police officers who had arrived at the scene.
Alo Ngata died in police custody in July 2018. Photo / Supplied
He was tasered but not subdued, and after a lengthy and violent struggle on the ground, was handcuffed, cable-tied at the legs, and fitted with a spit hood on his head.
The police officer who applied the hood had done it in training but that was her first time using it in a live situation, the inquest heard.
She made the decision to apply the hood because Ngata was spitting blood on her. "He was agitated and aggressive," she said.
Five or six other officers were restraining Ngata while she tried to put the hood on him, she told the inquest. The first hood ripped in the struggle, and it was raining.
She found another hood and managed to put it on Ngata's head "correctly at the time," she said.
Restrained and hooded, Ngata was then lifted and placed in the back of a police van.
At the police cell, officers removed his handcuffs and cable ties, leaving him lying prone and wearing his spit hood.
One custody officer said he was going to take the spit hood off before leaving, but his sergeant told him to leave it on because Ngata could take it off himself.
"That's the first time for me to have someone come in with a hood on," he told the inquest.
Later, when they saw that Ngata did not move, officers went in, removed his hood and found he had stopped breathing.
They started CPR and called emergency services, who arrived and took him to hospital.
Ngata never regained consciousness and was declared brain-dead two days later. He was kept on life support until July 4 to allow his parents, on an overseas trip at the time, to travel to New Zealand.
He died with his parents by his side, shortly after his life support was turned off.
A post-mortem found that Ngata died of brain damage, along with abnormal heart rhythm, restraint asphyxia, methamphetamine, an enlarged heart, and possibly suffocation due to the spit hood.
An investigation by the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) found in 2020 that police had failed in their duty of care to Ngata, but the force used to restrain him was appropriate.
The IPCA also found the initial use of the spit hood was correct, although its continued use should have been reassessed once he was lying prone in the van.
