A senior police officer discussed with colleagues their belief an Aboriginal woman in custody was exaggerating her pain due to drug use, contradicting prior evidence heard at an inquest.
Ms Dhu, whose first name is not used for cultural reasons, died two days after being locked up at Western Australia's South Hedland Police Station in August 2014 for unpaid fines totalling $3622, stemming from offences including assaulting an officer.
Senior Constable Russell Tindall was a supervisor during Ms Dhu's second day in custody and testified on Wednesday that he spoke with colleagues about her after she died.
He could not remember details but said several officers might have been present when Ms Dhu, 22, was discussed.
Sen Const Tindall said some officers believed Ms Dhu had been exaggerating her pain and as a methamphetamine user, she might have been coming down from drugs.
Asked what he thought about her at the time, Sen Const Tindall replied: "My opinion was that she was OK. She was OK to be in custody."
His evidence contradicted the testimony of some officers who denied believing Ms Dhu was faking or exaggerating her illness.
Constable Tamara Perry, the lock-up keeper on the second day, also testified on Wednesday, saying she checked on Ms Dhu at the start of her shift and organised for her to have a shower.
She noticed scratches on Ms Dhu's back and they discussed her sore ribs, but Const Perry did not note anything in the system after discussing it with Sen Const Tindall.
Const Perry admitted it was the only time she could remember not recording in the system a detainee being in pain, but could not explain why.
She also spoke with Ms Dhu's partner and fellow detainee, Dion Ruffin, who complained about Ms Dhu's condition, saying: "Get her some help."
The officer said she told Mr Ruffin that Ms Dhu had already been to the hospital and had been deemed fit for custody.
"They wouldn't have cleared her if she wasn't OK," she told him.
Const Perry told the inquest she put her trust in doctors.
"They're medical professionals, I'm not," she said.
The officer denied disbelieving Ms Dhu was ill and said she offered to take her to hospital again if she needed to go, but Ms Dhu declined the offer.
Const Perry rejected the suggestion she had neglected with her duties.
Sen Const Tindall also trusted the medical professionals and said in hindsight they got it wrong.
Ms Dhu died during her third visit in as many days to the Hedland Health Campus from staphylococcal septicaemia and pneumonia, following an infection in her fractured ribs that spread to her lungs.
The inquest continues.
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