Victorian police apologise over death of man held in cells instead of taken to hospital

Victoria police have apologised to the family of a man who died in 2023 after being held for five hours in a police cell without receiving medical treatment for a serious head injury, according to a report by The Guardian.

John Makai, a 58-year-old father of ten, died from serious head trauma that went untreated despite him being unresponsive in a cell at Broadmeadows, the Victorian coroner's court heard during an inquest into his death.

The inquest was shown footage of Makai struggling to stand after suffering the head injury, which resulted from being punched in the head by his son. The footage formed part of the evidence presented to the coroner's court as it examines the circumstances surrounding his death.

According to the report, Makai was taken to a police cell rather than to a hospital despite the severity of his injury, a decision that has become a central focus of the inquest as it examines how his death might have been prevented.

Victoria police's apology to Makai's family comes as the inquest continues to examine the response of officers involved in the case, with the coroner's court expected to further scrutinise the decisions made in the hours before his death.