Detective Sergeant Byron Reid was in charge of transcribing and going through the CCTV footage collected from Hāwera Police Station. Photo / Pool
Detective Sergeant Byron Reid was in charge of transcribing and going through the CCTV footage collected from Hāwera Police Station. Photo / Pool
There was a 30-minute gap from when Allen Ball was last checked by officers, to when they realised he was lying "cold" in a police cell.
Ball, 55, had earlier been arrested after a family harm incident at his Hawera home late on May 31, 2019.
Three Hawera police officers, who have name suppression, are on trial for his manslaughter in the High Court at New Plymouth.
Today, Detective Sergeant Byron Reid continued to show and talk through the CCTV footage gathered from the station overnight and into the early hours of June 1.
He talked through the various entries made into the National Intelligence Application [NIA] of which there are nine registered checks by officers after Ball had been placed in the cell.
Officer B - the arresting officer on the night - logged on to NIA at exactly midnight.
Reid tells Clarke how an entry was made by Officer B into NIA at 12.36am that Ball's "chest moving".
However, after viewing CCTV, the check was actually made by Officer B at 12.04am and he didn't re-enter the cell until 12.44am.
At that time, he nudges Ball's foot with his own. However, Reid points out the NIA entry states "still snoring in cell, pinched foot, no response".
The last check registered in NIA was at 1.36am when Officer B noted "STILL SNORING, on his side in the recovery position on the floor".
By about 1.43am, Ball begins to struggle to snore.
It's not entered in the system, but footage shows Officer C checking on Ball at 1.53am, looking at him for 54 seconds.
Officer B and Patterson can be seen in the corridor, next to the charge room, about five minutes later but neither do a check on Ball.
He is next checked by at 2.23am by Officer C, who nudges his foot with his own, before entering the cell and leaning on the doorway, leaning over him for 55 seconds.
The group of officers carry Allen Ball inside the Hāwera Police Station on a tear-resistant blanket. Photo / NZ Police
Constable Patterson then walks in asking about a pulse, followed by Officer B shortly afterwards. Officer C notes that Ball is cold as Officer B yells out Ball's name.
Officer B then goes to get a defibrillator and an ambulance is called.
Reid told the court about key elements in the NIA system, including intoxication and responsiveness.
When a person is registered as having "extreme" intoxication, a pop-alert tells the user that "consideration should be made whether hospital is required".
23.52: Officer A arrives at the station with Constable Gous.
23.55: Ball is carried inside the station by four officers and observer Rohan Kui.
23.59: Conversation between Officer B and Officer C as to whether he should be monitored constantly or frequently, and Ball's state of intoxication.
00.01: Constable Patterson tells Officer B how "f****** funny" Ball's arrest was given his state of intoxication and how he began snoring. "F****** it was the best lock-up."
00.02: Constable Patterson talks with Officer B about an assessment and monitoring and how it should be frequent.
00.08: Officer B tells Officer C he believes Ball is unresponsive as he doesn't respond to anything, any pain, or stimulation. Officer B then decides he's partially responsive. A discussion, also involving Officer A, also begins about whether Ball has a history of attempting suicide.
00.12: Officer B then decides to change the monitoring of Ball to frequent. Officer C advises him to make a note that he's very drunk. Ball can be heard loudly snoring in the cell.
00.16: Officer B tells Kui "we might get, might get a little bit crucified for the fact that I haven't put him on constant monitoring", then states "if he spewed then we can change it up". Officer C responds "the idiot's f****** wasted by the time he got here."
00.28: The three accused officers talk about his intoxicated state and whether to move Ball to New Plymouth. Officer A then says they will all be floating around.
00.30: Officer A suggests holding Ball for detox, then he can be bailed in the morning.
00.52: Officer A leaves the station.
1.03: Constable Patterson checks ball, writes in "still snoring".
1.09: Officer A asks Ball if he wants a drink of water. Walks out, making horizontal gesture under chin to Officer B who asks if he's still responsive. Officer A responds "yeah". Officer B replies "ha ha ha f****** hell".
01.12: Officer C asks if Ball is still alive.
01.43: Ball struggles to snore.
01.53: Officer C looks at Ball in the cell for 54 seconds, then leaves.
02.23 – Officer C checks on Ball again, nudges his foot and then leans on doorway, bending over Ball for about 55 seconds. Says "Allen" three times.
02.25: Constable Patterson arrives, asks about a pulse. Officer C states that Ball is cold. Officer B arrives, says "Allen" and tells Patterson to call an ambulance, before getting a defibrillator.
02.27: "Allen ... hey!" Officer B says "fucking get [ambo] to hurry up".
The defence
Susan Hughes QC, appearing for Officer A, said her client accepted she had made a mistake that day, but that didn't make her a criminal.
The accused officers walk into the High Court at New Plymouth this week. Photo / Belinda Feek
She told the jury to consider whether Officer A breached their duty of care to Ball, and if so, was it a major departure from the level of care expected.
Hughes said Ball died after "deliberately and covertly" ingesting a large amount of tramadol, codeine and alcohol.
Her client didn't seek medical assistance but believed Ball was "drunk and was sleeping off a bender".
Kylie Pascoe, counsel for Officer B, also told the jury her client got it wrong, but also believed Ball was sleeping off his intoxication and it would only later be discovered that Ball had "self poisoned".
Detective Sergeant Byron Reid was in charge of transcribing and going through the CCTV footage collected from Hāwera Police Station. Photo / Pool
"[Client] got it wrong."
However, getting it wrong was not the issue, it was determining whether there had been a major departure from the standard of care expected from Officer B.
Andrew Laurenson, for Officer C, said his client did nothing different to other officers who were working that night, but they hadn't been charged.
The trial is expected to take about four weeks and is being overseen by Justice Susan Thomas.
