A senior sergeant has told a coronial inquest South Auckland police officers are reluctant to take injured prisoners to Middlemore Hospital as they are often turned away.
Twenty-one-year-old Sentry Taitoko died in a suicide watch cell at Counties-Manukau Police station in February 2014, after hitting his head dozens of times.
Mr Taitoko, who was high on drugs and acting agressively, wasn't taken to Middlemore Hospital that night, following advice given to the police by a doctor who can't be named.
But the senior sergeant says Mr Taitoko should have been taken to the emergency department.
Katie Scotcher reports.
