Spit hood

Alo Ngata died in hospital after he was found unresponsive on the floor of a police cell with a spit hood on.

Ngata was The position he was lying in caused Ngata to suffocate. Sergeant Hamblett told the inquest he was concerned about positional asphyxiation and instructed the transporting officers to ensure Ngata was constantly monitored and kept on his side during the drive to the Auckland Custody Unit. The officers began taking turns with CPR before a fire crew and ambulance arrived and he was taken to hospital. “I was going to take it off and my sergeant said he could take it off himself,” the officer said. Constable D told the inquest Ngata was agitated, aggressive, spitting and the officer noticed blood before applying the spit hood. He was carried into a cell, where officers removed his restraints but left the spit hood on. The day before, police had been called to reports of an argument, and Ngata reportedly told an officer he was seeing ghosts and spirits. A spit hood was also put over his head by Constable D, the most junior officer at the scene. The following day, after Ngata and his partner had an argument, came the attack on the stranger. [IPCA report](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300092603/police-failed-in-duty-of-care-to-alo-ngata-who-died-after-being-arrested--ipca) into Ngata’s death found a string of failures by officers, including leaving a spit hood on Ngata while he was alone in a cell. [Alo Ngata](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/105559663/tasered-fathertobe-alo-ngatas-very-scary-very-sad-final-days-on-earth?rm=a) was left in a police cell with a spit hood on, minutes later custody officers noticed he’d not moved, an inquest heard.

The mother of a man who died after being left face-down in a police cell with an incorrectly fitted spit hood covering his face says a coroner's inquest ...

Officers administered CPR in the cell when they realised Ngata was not responsive, and he was taken to hospital in an ambulance. Police and custody officers called as witnesses today gave evidence about what happened when Ngata was transported to a cell and how he was restrained and monitored thereafter. That may lead into my recommendations for change". However, once in the custody unit, officers failed to assess his well-being and interpreted his incoherent attempts to talk as a sign of breathing. Ngata was on meth when he was arrested in 2018 after assaulting an 81-year-old man in Auckland's Freeman's Bay - members of the public witnessed the attack and called the police. The mother of a man who died after being left face-down in a police cell with an incorrectly fitted spit hood covering his face says the coroner's inquest will give her and the family some closure.

The mother of a man who died after being left face-down in a police cell with an incorrectly fitted spit hood covering his face says a coroner's inquest ...

Officers administered CPR in the cell when they realised Ngata was not responsive, and he was taken to hospital in an ambulance. Police and custody officers called as witnesses today gave evidence about what happened when Ngata was transported to a cell and how he was restrained and monitored thereafter. That may lead into my recommendations for change". However, once in the custody unit, officers failed to assess his well-being and interpreted his incoherent attempts to talk as a sign of breathing. Ngata was on meth when he was arrested in 2018 after assaulting an 81-year-old man in Auckland's Freeman's Bay - members of the public witnessed the attack and called the police. The mother of a man who died after being left face-down in a police cell with an incorrectly fitted spit hood covering his face says the coroner's inquest will give her and the family some closure.