Inquest probes NSW man's mid-arrest death

Pat Morena had "two sides to his personality: a good one and a bad one", according to a mate.

On the day he died, a NSW inquest has heard, he was "frothing at the mouth", growling at police and had 24 plastic bags of the party drug "ice" hidden in his undies.

Then there was the side the 34-year-old's friends and family remember: generous, hard-working and well-liked.

"We had a really close bond," father Roy Morena said outside Sutherland Local Court on Monday.

"He was a physically fit man. He was a plumber by trade, he could dig trenches all day."

A four-day inquest will probe the man's arrest in the Wollongong suburb of Bulli on November 8, 2012, and whether the actions of the two officers who attempted to bring him into custody played a role in his death.

Counsel assisting the coroner Sophia Beckett told the court the inquest would consider whether the arrest was lawful and whether the methods of restraint used were in line with standard police procedure.

Senior Constable Robert Simpson has told the inquest he and Senior Constable Brian Rice were conducting surveillance on Mr Morena on the day he died.

His record included a string of drug supply and possession offences, the court heard, and he had been the subject of a number of domestic violence complaints.

Asked whether he knew his partner was on restricted duties as a result of a back injury and was "not supposed to arrest anyone", Sen Const Simpson said it had not been discussed.

Sen Const Simpson said as he and Sen Const Rice tailed Mr Morena to a unit block at Bulli, he formed the opinion the man was dealing drugs.

But as he moved to confront Mr Morena shortly before 8pm, the young man "just went berserk", he testified.

He began "frothing at the mouth", growling and lashing out at the arresting officers.

"Control of the suspect was your primary motivation, as opposed to self-defence?" Ms Beckett asked.

"Absolutely," Sen Const Simpson replied.

The officer said he told Mr Morena he was under arrest, and the man said he understood.

Yet within minutes he was unconscious.

The court heard he was visibly blue by the time paramedics arrived, and an autopsy would later find the concentration of ice in his blood was 3.8 mg/L.

"Secreted in Mr Morena's underwear were 24 resealable plastic bags containing a quantity of 13.34g of the crystalline substance methylamphetamine," Ms Beckett added.

His devastated parents say they want answers.

"It just could have been handled differently," a tearful Sarina Morena said.

"All we got was a phone call at 11 o'clock at night saying your son's dead ... It just broke my heart."

The inquest resumes on Tuesday.