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The family of a man who died after a struggle with a policeman at Hamilton District Court have said they hold no animosity towards police over the incident.
Johnathan Ripia, 46, died in Waikato Hospital yesterday, 24 hours after he had pepper-spray used on him by the police officer he had attacked after appearing at the court.
Police have launched a homicide inquiry as a result of his death.
Mr Ripia's relatives told media today that he was a schizophrenic, who became a loner and withdrew from his family when not on medication.
Before the attack, Mr Ripia's manner was described by witnesses as aggressive and intimidating, police said.
This morning, Mr Ripia's brothers Wallace and Wikaamo Ripia, along with his nephew Daniel, spoke to media about their lost relative.
They said they held no animosity toward police over the incident that led to Mr Ripia's death, but knew only what the media had been told about the case.
"We don't know anything about what happened, the police have told us nothing," said Wikamo.
But he said that in no way concerned him. The launch of a homicide inquiry was standard practice.
Daniel said he was "quite happy" about the way the investigation was being handled.
One of 13 children in the family, Johnathan, was described by his brothers as a beneficiary who had was under constant medication for the "acute schizophrenia" he had suffered since school.
They did not know whether Johnathan's mood was the result of missing his medication, although Wikamo said his brother would become a loner during such periods.
He had not seen or spoken to Johnathan for about six months.
Johnathan was known to police and every time he had come before the courts for criminal charges it was due to missed medication, Wikamo said.
He said he did not know whether Johnathan had a drug abuse problem, or whether he had any allergy to compounds contained in pepper spray.
The trio were satisfied that "reasonable force is acceptable" when police faced restraining people who were not in control, and held no animosity those involved in the incident.
Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Page said the officer who had been beaten by Ripia had immediately given his attacker CPR when it became clear that he had stopped breathing.
Ripia was resuscitated and rushed to hospital by ambulance but died yesterday when the family decided to switch off his life support.
Mr Page said the results of a post mortem would be made available to the investigating team this afternoon, but it was unlikely these would be immediately released to the public.
It was "normal protocol" for a homicide inquiry to be launched for the case to have any integrity. Once police were finished with their inquiries the case would be handed over to the coroner.
The officer had not been stood down but was off work today, Mr Page said.
