The comments were made on the third day of the coronial inquiry of Grant Steven Bowden, who died almost 14 months after an assault in the prison’s exercise yard on November 3, 2017.
A severe head injury left him unable to swallow food or fluids and he eventually developed a chest infection which led to his death at the end of 2018.
Coroner Allie Cunninghame said at the outset of the case at the Dunedin District Court that she would be considering the inmate’s treatment in the prison, the standard of healthcare he received and, ultimately, whether the incident which led to his death was preventable.
Yesterday, Andrew Warden, an ex-Corrections officer of 14 years, gave evidence of his experience working at OCF.
He said he knew Mr Bowden and had fleeting interactions with him during the 18 days the man spent behind bars.
Mr Warden described him as "a little bit erratic". He was loud at times and made some unusual comments.
Ultimately, he believed Mr Bowden was harmless and "could not be considered a threat to others".
When Mr Bowden — who had schizophrenia — was first remanded in custody on burglary charges, he spent time in the at-risk unit, before being moved to the general population at his request.
The inquiry yesterday heard the nurses placed a note on their internal system saying there should be "low tolerance" for his return to the at-risk unit.
Mr Warden said he could not recall whether that information had been conveyed to him but said many of the inmates’ health conditions were withheld on privacy grounds.
"We just got on with looking after them the best we could," he said.
Mr Warden said it was increasingly common during his tenure for the prison to house people with serious mental health issues.
Howard League representative Buster Thompson asked the witness whether he felt they had the capability to deal with such people.
"From a staff perspective, no. I felt we were very under-trained," Mr Warden said.
He said a select few staff were taken to look around Wakari Hospital and were then regarded as "specially mental-health trained".
Earlier this week, the inquiry viewed footage of the 2017 fight which showed Mr Bowden and fellow inmate Nyal Heke engaged in violence.
It initially appeared the pair were sparring but when Mr Bowden nearly hit him, Heke responded with a flurry of blows, one of which sent Bowden crashing to the concrete.
"I didn’t hit him with as much force as I could in that punch," he told the coroner yesterday. "It was more of a swing. I just wanted to get him off me."
He said he suffered nightmares following the incident.
The inquiry is scheduled to run for two weeks.
