Widow of prisoner who committed suicide to sue

Prison authorities are facing legal action by the widow of a man who committed suicide in custody for failing to protect him.

The 36-year-old man was arrested in Levin in July 2003 for breaching a domestic protection order.

He was transferred to Palmerston North police station, where he was pepper-sprayed to stop him smashing his head against the wall, and later smashed the glass around the dock at Palmerston North District Court with his head.

Four hours after arriving at Linton Prison he was dead.

A legal aid review panel has now granted legal aid to his widow, a beneficiary with three children, to bring a case under the New Zealand Bill of Rights, the Dominion Post newspaper reported today.

Her lawyer, Tony Ellis, said if prison authorities ignored the police's warning that the man was "an extreme suicide risk", it could be a breach of the right to life.

Mr Ellis said the case could change the law regarding relatives' suing as a result of the circumstances of a person's death.

- NZPA