Wayne Hunt was "violently resistant" as Northern Territory prison guards struggled to calm him before he was handcuffed and put in a spit hood, the coronial hearing on his death in custody was told on Tuesday.
The 56-year-old was only days into a sentence for dangerous driving causing death when he had an epileptic fit at Darwin Correctional Centre on August 29, 2024.
After attempts to calm him and a sedative administered by a nurse, Mr Hunt was put in handcuffs and a spit hood and left naked in an "at-risk cell" before he died in hospital two days later.
The inquest was shown disturbing footage of a handcuffed Mr Hunt being held by the head, looking confused and exhausted, and yelling and moaning as he's moved in a wheelchair by officers.
According to the prison's "red book" on the rules for guards monitoring "at-risk" inmates, they must give naked-eye checks every 15 minutes and constantly watch closed-circuit television monitors.
But the prison guard, who was monitoring at-risk inmates including Mr Hunt after his seizure, told the inquest he was not aware of those rules and believed he just had to watch the CCTV.
The guard, who cannot be identified because of a suppression order by the coroner, said constant naked-eye watching was only required if inmates were on "death watch" actively trying to take their own life.
Mr Hunt was found unresponsive in the cell the next morning and taken to hospital.
Another prison guard told the inquest it was his decision to treat Mr Hunt as an at-risk inmate rather than as a medical case, due to his non-compliant and erratic behaviour which he thought might be due to drugs.
The officer disputed that he had made the wrong call in hindsight, not to ensure medical attention for Mr Hunt, given he died two days later.
The inquest on Tuesday heard from another prison guard who helped restrain Mr Hunt, who said he was swinging his arms and legs about and screaming as officers tried to calm him.
"He was really violently resistant. He was really strong."
Members of the Immediate Action Team, known as "Ninja Turtles" due to their body armour, arrived to take Mr Hunt from the cell block.
Mary Chalmers, counsel assisting the coroner, put it to the officer that handcuffing Mr Hunt didn't protect him from injury because he cut his wrists fighting against the cuffs.
"We were really struggling to calm Mr Hunt down," the officer said.
In December 2022, Mr Hunt, who lost a leg in a 2008 motorbike crash, was driving his ute in a supermarket car park when he accidentally hit the accelerator and fatally pinned an 11-year-old boy against a wall.
He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death, earning him three months in jail, his family and friends saying he was truly remorseful.
On release he was given a further nine months when prosecutors appealed the first sentence as inadequate.
Ms Chalmers said in her opening address on Monday the community needed to know how a comparatively healthy 56-year-old man who went into custody with his medications was dead within three days.
The inquest continues before Northern Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage.
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