Coroner warns of citizen's arrest dangers

Whenever Brisbane truck driver Amit Kumar went fishing, his three-year-old daughter would ask him to bring home a "rainbow fish".

A keen angler, it was with excitement the 34-year-old father of three left home on September 23, 2012, bound for a charter fishing trip on the Sunshine Coast.

Tragically, he would never return home.

Within three hours, the cheerful Fijian Indian called "Smiley" by those who knew him was dead - the unfortunate victim of a citizen's arrest that went terribly wrong.

Findings from an inquest into Mr Kumar's death were released on Wednesday, and include a warning about the dangers of untrained members of the public restraining others.

Last month's inquest heard Mr Kumar became violent when he was refused access to the charter fishing boat, with no refund due to his late cancellation of a previous trip.

In what the coroner described as unacceptable but uncharacteristic behaviour, Mr Kumar punched the female manager in the face and assaulted a deckhand with a chair.

It took five men - crew and passengers from the boat - and the female manager to restrain the bulky, agitated man in the car park.

Pinned face down on the bitumen with zip ties around his wrists and ankles, Mr Kumar, who had heart disease, went into cardiac arrest.

In subsequent triple-zero calls, his panicked cries of "I can't breathe" could be heard in the background.

By the time Mr Kumar's captors realised he was in trouble, it was too late.

He was unable to be revived despite efforts from a doctor among the group, and paramedics.

Brisbane Coroner John Hutton found Mr Kumar died from a combination of the restraint, his heart disease and excess weight around his stomach.

The coroner concluded the decision to restrain Mr Kumar was reasonable but said those involved used excessive force.

However, Mr Hutton stopped short of recommending charges, saying it was unclear how much the group's actions contributed to Mr Kumar's death.

"I find that their failure to release pressure on Mr Kumar ... fell well short of any standard of reasonableness," he said.

"The force they used to continue to restrain Mr Kumar in the circumstances was excessive."

Mr Hutton singled out a doctor among the group who "should have taken more control over Mr Kumar's wellbeing".

The case highlighted dangers involved with members of the public restraining someone with medical issues, Mr Hutton added.

He recommended first aid providers consider training on the risk of "positional and restraint asphyxia".