Police 'laughed' as Briscoe was held

3 Feb 2012, 9:50 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Mr Briscoe was discovered unconscious in his cell during a routine check. (File Getty)

Mr Briscoe was discovered unconscious in his cell during a routine check. (File Getty)

A man arrested with Terrance Briscoe in Alice Springs says police laughed as Mr Briscoe was held down in the hours before his death.

Four police officers laughed as one overpowered Terrance Briscoe on the night he died in custody, says a man arrested with him.

Mr Briscoe, whose death in Alice Springs made headlines amid claims of police brutality, was farewelled at a funeral on Friday and afterwards Oscar White, 21, described what he says happened to his cousin on the night he died.

Speaking to a reporter for the first time since the incident, Mr White said he, Mr Briscoe and three other men who had been arrested for drunkenness were in a room with four police officers on January 4 when Mr Briscoe refused to give his name.

After becoming agitated, Mr Briscoe swung his fist at one of the officers.

Although Mr Briscoe was drunk and the swing was only half-hearted, the policeman pushed Mr Briscoe hard onto the ground and held him face down and sat on his back while other officers put their feet on him, Mr White told AAP via an interpreter from his native Warlpiri language.

While on the ground, Mr Briscoe struggled to breathe and a cut above his eye that had been stitched opened and began to bleed, Mr White said.

"They were really rough, and they were laughing at the same time," Mr White said.

"They were making a mockery out of him.

"He was short of breath too, because he was actually really, really suffocated."

Mr White denied earlier reports that the group of officers, who included a policewoman, bashed Mr Briscoe but said they were needlessly rough.

He said Mr Briscoe was like a rag when police picked him up off the ground and dragged him to his cell.

Another man who had been arrested and was in the room, Lance Dixon, briefly spoke with AAP and agreed with Mr White's description of events but did not wish to elaborate.

Mr Briscoe was discovered unconscious in his cell during a routine check just after 2am (CST) on January 5 and later pronounced dead at Alice Springs Hospital.

After his death, protests against police brutality were held in Alice Springs and hundreds attended candlelight vigils.

At the funeral on Friday, Lutheran pastor Basil Schild said Alice Springs needed peace.

"There are many difficult deaths in Alice Springs and many people die too young," Mr Schild said.

"The death of this young man has been surrounded by controversy.

"We pray for a special blessing of peace and for calmness today to say goodbye to him."

Mr Schild said Alice Springs needed spiritual healing.

"That means reflection and that means making friends out of enemies," the pastor said.

An investigation into the death of Mr Briscoe is underway, and Northern Territory Chief Minister Paul Henderson says he is confident it will be thorough.

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