Source: Radio New Zealand
Lawyer Anson Grant is assisting the coroner in the Jaye Taueli case. RNZ/Lucy Xia
This story contains sensitive details that may be distressing to read
A coronial inquest heard that police were looking to design a bespoke restraint chair with a head cushion, after a young man restrained in a chair inside police cells died.
Jaye Taueli forcefully thrashed his head back and forth over 160 times, while tied down in the chair, and later lost consciousness.
He was 21, when he died in Middlemore Hospital on 31 August, 2021 from a ruptured malformed vessel in his brain – a day after he was arrested for breaching electronically monitored bail, while charged with a sexual assault.
Police officers noticed signs of methamphetamine use when they arrested him and later put him in a restraint chair, after he banged his head on a cell door and walls, and appeared to try to strangle himself.
An investigation by the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) in 2023 found the use of the chair was justified, but that police still failed in their duty of care, and less forceful and less intrusive options should have been used first.
The two-day inquest in Auckland scrutinised the treatment of Taueli at the Counties Manukau Custody unit. It also heard discussions on how police manage detainees who are under the influence of drugs, and/or are suicidal, and what improvements were made to the training of custodial officers since Tuaeli’s death.
Inspector Jana Dale Peterson, who manages custody units across the country, told the inquest police now required all custody officers to be trained in the use of restraint chairs and custody supervisors had ongoing face-to-face training.
He said there were now more guidance on the monitoring of detainees who were suicidal.
Peterson said they were developing a prototype for a new restraint chair, with more protections around the headrest.
“We’re looking at developing a cushion… that can be put on the top end of the chair, so that when the person’s strapped in, their head will be pressing against it with the straps,” he said. “There should be very minimal movement.”
Jaye Taueli forcefully thrashed his head back and forth over 160 times while tied down in a police restraint chair, and later lost consciousness. Supplied
However, it was unclear when the new chair would be ready to use in custody units.
The lawyer assisting the coroner, Anson Grant, asked Peterson if the risk was lower now for a detainee to be punched in the face, when resisting being put into a restraint chair and threatening to bite officers – as Taueli was. Peterson answered he couldn’t confirm that, citing a “dynamic environment in custody”.
Peterson said they provided the training, but couldn’t always determine the outcome, as many factors came into play.
Asked if there were circumstances when police shouldn’t put a detainee in a restraint chair, when they’re agitated, Peterson said police were heavily scrutinised by the Ombudsman and the IPCA in the use of the chair, and it was only used when the risk assessment deems it was needed.
Scottish neuropathologist Dr Colin Smith told the inquest that Taueli’s head trauma and the trashing of his head in the chair alone couldn’t have killed him.
“The head is not impacting against a truly solid object, so from the biomechanics of head injury, the forces are not going to cause blood vessels to rupture,” he said.
Dr Smith said Taueli’s use of meth, combined with the vigorous head movement and his agitation, may have elevated his blood pressure – causing a pre-existing malformed blood vessel to rupture.
The inquest also heard from pharmacologist Dr Macdonald Christie that meth levels found in Taueli were low and not enough to have caused any spikes in blood pressure.
By the end of the two-day inquest, coroner Tania Tetitaha acknowledged the difficulty for police, when faced with detainees who were suicidal or under the influence of drugs.
“I think, when you’re restraining someone who may not only be self-harming or giving the indication of self-harming, but may also have hidden natural problems – however they’re bought about – that’s always a combination that even medical professionals would be struggling [with]” she said.
Little was known about the life of Jaye Taueli and no family members were at the inquest.
In the week leading up to his arrest, police said Taueli’s phone had more than 100 text messages related to drug dealings.
He was also involved in three family-harm incidents that week.
Police photos showed that a sparsely furnished unit, with a mattress on the floor, a smoke detector blocked with a cloth and a plastic bottle with a pipe, was where Taueli spent his last days on bail.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand