Posted: 2019-03-18 04:53:47

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Counsel assisting the coroner Daniel Nguyen said two bursts of gas were sprayed into the room but SESG officers believed Ferman "remained non-compliant".

"So they entered the cell to physically overpower him in order to apply restraint equipment," he told the Coroners Court on Monday.

"The SESG personnel had on respiratory protection masks and were using riot shields."

Once subdued, Ferman was taken to the shower room for decontamination, but he continued to struggle, and officers put their weight on him as he lay face-down on the floor.

Mr Nguyen said Ferman vomited while he was being "held prone" in the shower room by officers who were "applying their body weight to a riot shield on his back".

Respiratory expert Associate Professor Louis Irving believes Ferman was "progressively suffocating" while being restrained.

Associate Professor Irving, who studied footage of the incident, did not believe the tear gas played a major part in Ferman's death, although they couldn't rule out that it had some impact.

But he said the "prone position" in which Ferman was held would have made it harder for him to breath than if he were sitting up.

"It will reduce Mr Ferman's ability to ventilate," Associate Professor Irving said.

"In this case the prone position was accompanied by a shield over his head and pressure appeared to be applied."

Associate Professor Irving said when Ferman was later sat up he looked "floppy" and his skin appeared to lose colour before resuscitation efforts began.

"He's not the same person who came out of the cell," Associate Professor Irving said.

He continued: "The resuscitation could've been brought forward."

At the time of his death, Ferman was serving a jail sentence of six years and five months for multiple offences.

The inquest continues before coroner Rosemary Carlin.

AAP

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