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The Police Complaints Authority is investigating how an arrested man in Palmerston North spent a night in a prison cell with a broken neck, groaning in agony.
Inspector Pat Hancock, of Palmerston North, said today the man was arrested early on Sunday morning in a "very high" intoxicated state.
He was complaining of a sore neck, and a doctor was called to examine him as quickly as possible.
The doctor did not detect a broken neck, but advised police to put him in the recovery position and check on him every 15 minutes.
This had been done, and the man spent the night in the cell, Mr Hancock said.
There was nothing in the case notes to suggest he had been groaning in pain, he said.
The Police Complaints Authority was investigating, and police hoped to establish exactly what caused the injury.
- NZPA
