The New South Wales coroner has handed down damning findings against police who acted "like schoolboys in Lord of the Flies" as they tasered a Brazilian student in Sydney's CBD earlier this year.

Roberto Laudisio Curti died after police fired Tasers at him 14 times - seven of them within 51 seconds - following a chase in the early hours of March 18.

Handing down her findings today, coroner Mary Jerram said the actions of police were reckless and excessive, and constituted an abuse of police power.

And she strongly recommended that disciplinary action be taken against five officers involved in the fatal confrontation.

Curti's family has welcomed that finding, but is pushing for criminal charges to be laid against the officers concerned.

New South Wales Police says it will adopt the coroner's recommendations, including referring the five officers involved to the Integrity Commission.

But Commissioner Andrew Scipione defended the use of Tasers, saying they would continue to save lives in other cases.

'Pack mentality'

Sorry, this video has expired Jason Om reports on the death of Roberto Laudisio Curti (pictured) ( Jason Om )

Curti, 21, had taken LSD, making him paranoid and delusional, and had stolen a packet of biscuits from a convenience store before his death.

Ms Jerram said some of the officers who chased the shirtless Brazilian through the CBD showed an ungoverned pack mentality and acted "recklessly and dangerously".

She said they "threw themselves" into the confrontation "like schoolboys in Lord of the Flies" and recommended their actions be referred to the Police Integrity Commission.

The chase ended when Curti was brought down after being shot in the back with a Taser.

Ms Jerram said police then set upon him as he lay handcuffed on the ground.

During that struggle they tasered him eight times, used up to three cans of OC spray on him and restrained him with physical force.

"Roberto's only foes during his ordeal were the police," she said.

"There was no victim other than Roberto, no member of the public who suffered an iota from his delusionary fear.

"Certainly he had taken an illicit drug, as has become all too common in today's society, but he was guilty of no serious offence, he was proffering no threat to anyone, there was no attempt by police to consider his mental state."

The five officers singled out for criticism ranged in rank at the time of the incident from PC to sergeant. One of the men, Greg Cooper, has since been promoted to inspector.

"His failure to maintain any objectivity or sensible leadership, quite apart from the unreliability of his evidence, is abhorrent," the coroner said of Inspector Cooper.

The coroner made an open finding on the cause of death, saying a number of factors may have contributed.

"Nevertheless," she said, "it's impossible to believe that he would have died, but for the actions of police."

Family calls for charges

Sorry, this video has expired Coroner Mary Jerram delivers her findings

Ms Jerram recommended that police standards be reviewed in terms of the use of Tasers, the use of capsicum spray, as well as handcuffing, restraint and positional asphyxia.

She also said mental health policies about determining whether a person has some mental disturbance should be reviewed.

Curti had stolen biscuits from a convenience store in the CBD before his death. The shop manager thought he was harmless and did not call police, but a cleaner outside thought she had witnessed a robbery and called police.

Members of Curti's family were in the court to hear the coroner hand down her findings.

The dead man's brother-in-law Michael Reynolds, with whom the young Brazilian was living at the time of his death, said the findings did not go far enough.

"The coroner has highlighted how excessive, reckless and thuggish some of the police officers were on that evening," he said.

"Whilst nothing will ever bring Berto back, we continue to push for those responsible to face the consequences for their appalling behaviour on that night.

"The coroner has recommended that some of them be investigated for disciplinary action, and we support that.

"However, the family and our lawyers also believe that charges for certain criminal offences should be laid. The family has made a formal request to Detective Inspector Laidlaw of the Critical Incident Team to pursue charges against the relevant officers."

Sorry, this video has expired Curti family spokesman Michael Reynolds speaks outside the court

At a press conference, New South Wales Police said the officers involved had had their accreditation to carry Tasers removed.

Mr Scipione said police would be reviewing the use of Tasers and would adopt the coroner's recommendations regarding reviews of the use of capsicum spray, handcuffing, restraint and positional asphyxia.

"These weapons (Tasers) save lives. We never said they were toys," he said.

"We have never been opposed to change in terms of learning more around how we can better use Tasers on the streets of New South Wales.

"If you look at it, we only rolled these Tasers out in November of 2009 and already we have changed the procedures that govern their use 18 times. And if we need to do it another 18 we will.

Mr Scipione said there had been many occasions where Tasers had been used "effectively".

"There are many people that will be the subject of a tasering over coming months and years that will thank us, they'll thank us because it will prevent them from being seriously injured," he said.

"They'll thank us because it may well be the difference between somebody that's suffering from a mental health episode self-harming, jumping off a bridge, and the only chance we will have to intervene will be to use a Taser."

He said he was "mindful" that the Curti family had called for criminal charges to be laid but stressed that that had not been among the recommendations made by the coroner.

"The coroner is the best-placed person in this entire event to make those determinations and clearly the coroner determined that it did not meet the threshold or the required standards and therefore the matters were not referred," he said.

"On this occasion the coroner decided that wasn't appropriate and therefore I would see it to be very difficult to go forward again. But of course these are matters now that will fall into the bailiwick of the Integrity Commission."