Four police officers are facing disciplinary hearings over the death of a man whose pleas for medical help were ignored while he was in their custody.
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Chinese national Gong Ling Tang, 53, was found by paramedics lying in a puddle outside the Dandenong police station in May 2010. He later died in hospital from a gastrointestinal haemorrhage just hours after being released from custody.
CCTV footage released during a coronial inquest shows Mr Tang writhing in pain in his cell. Police members watched on as he crawled from his cell after his release. He was escorted, barefoot out into the cold night and can be seen lying in a puddle of water.
The inquest heard Mr Tang was arrested for breaching an intervention order after visiting his estranged wife's house in Oakleigh.
He spent four hours in a cell, during which time he repeatedly complained of abdominal pain and asked to be taken to hospital.
Interpreter Yu Shu Lipski, who was assisting Mr Tang, told the inquest she was shocked and saddened by the way the police had ridiculed Mr Tang. She said one officer had "laughed herself to tears" when he told them he had soiled himself.
A spokeswoman for Victoria Police confirmed the four officers were facing a disciplinary hearing over what the inquest described as, in effect, a death in custody.
"The circumstances leading to Mr Tang's death are also subject to a coronial investigation, asthese matters remain ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment further," the spokeswoman said.
Victoria Police apologised in court to Mr Tang's family. Deputy Commissioner Tim Cartwright said the officers at Dandenong Hospital had "fallen well short of the standards expected in terms of both the care we showed and the respect and dignity provided".
The disciplinary hearings are continuing.
