Diabetic to take legal action against police

Press, 26 June 1987, Page 7

Diabetic to take legal action against police

By

GLENIS CARROLL

A Christchurch man intends to take legal action against the police, who he claims kicked and handcuffed him as he was lapsing into a diabetic coma.

Two weeks ago, Mr Norman Adcock, of Riccarton, was found lapsing into a hypoglycaemic coma at the Riccarton Borough Council workshop by two Armourguard security officers.

The guards called the police. Mr Adcock says he remembers being kicked several times and handcuffed to a beam. He has been off work since the incident with bruised ribs and an injured wrist. Mr Adcock, a diabetic for 16 years, said the police appeared not to accept his version of the events even though their inquiry was not complete. “I want to get this settled properly for the benefit of all the other people who wear Medic Alert bracelets,” he said."

“The biggest fear a dia-

betic has is falling into a coma and being found by people who don’t understand.”

The police have denied that Mr Adcock was assaulted and said they believe that the action taken at the time of the incident was appropriate. Superintendent Michael Tarling said it was not until the police handcuffed Mr Adcock that they saw his Medic Alert bracelet, stating he was a diabetic.

"Until then they were dealing with a violent person where there were weapons within reach,” he said.

The police would complete their inquiry into Mr Adcock’s complaint within the next fortnight, Superintendent Tarling said. The Armourguard security officers who first found Mr Adcock did not see him kicked. The Christchurch manager of Armourguard, Mr Ross Gibson, said guards left to check the rest of the building as soon as the police arrived. The guards called the police because Mr Adcock

had become abusive and when the police arrived considered the matter had been turned over to them, Mr Gibson said.

The president of the Christchurch Diabetic Society, Mr John O’Brien, said the society was concerned about the incident and was making its own inquiries. The society would follow the incident up fully to make sure the police and security firms were aware of how to deal with someone who was lapsing into a hypoglycaemic coma. The state of “hypo” is caused when a diabetic’s blood sugar level drops. The person begins to sweat, feel shaky, and loses concentration.

The person becomes confused and may be verbal? or physically aggressive, and will eventually lose consciousness. The educator at the Diabetic Centre, Mrs Margaret Fazackerley, said some diabetics might be aware of what was happening to them during a “hypo” and others. might not.