Grief ... Mike Reynolds, Ana Luisa Laudisio de Lucca and Maria Fernanda Laudisio de Lucca. Credit:Dallas Kilponen I was in shock,'' Ms Laudisio said. ''I didn't even know what a Taser was.'' Tasers have become the central issue during a two-week inquest into Mr Curti's death. The actions of the police in the early hours of March 18 have been scrutinised, from their first radio call to the numerous failed tackles, multiple Taser shots, more than two cans of capsicum spray, handcuffs, a baton and the number of officers involved in a frenzied restraint on the ground. Officers described to the inquest Mr Curti's phenomenal strength - in part a result of LSD-induced psychosis, which had caused him to jump the counter of a convenience store and leave with two packets of biscuits. Each said they believed their actions were justified because the circumstances were so violent and extreme.

Yesterday, however, in a powerful closing submission, the counsel assisting the coroner, Jeremy Gormly, SC, said most of the Taser uses were unnecessary, unjustified and against the police force's standard operating procedures. One had committed a ''thuggish act'', Mr Gormly said. The family's representative, Peter Hamill, SC, submitted that others had engaged in sheer, unlawful brutality, given untruthful evidence, ''conveniently'' forgotten things and shown no remorse in court. Just two, Constable Daniel Barling and Acting Sergeant Craig Partridge, had offered condolences to Mr Curti's family. The confusing, contradictory presentation of events has posed important questions about Taser use. Is the multiple and simultaneous use of Tasers justified? Is the training given to officers sufficient? Can the powerful device be misused too easily, leading to death? Since 2008, any frontline officer who completes yearly training can carry a Taser and administer its 1200 volt electric shock. Three officers gave vastly different understandings of the standard operating procedures, which only say that multiple uses should be reserved for ''exigent circumstances''.

In one piece of evidence Inspector Greg Cooper said he had never even heard of the operating procedure that said multiple use might lead to death. Under examination from Mr Hamill, the police force's chief instructor of weapons and tactics, policy and review, Sergeant Peter Davis, rejected suggestions that training was ''woefully inadequate''. ''It suggests to me that some individuals probably haven't understood the training correctly,'' he replied. The State Coroner, Mary Jerram, will hand down her findings and recommendations in coming weeks. Ms Jerram has been asked to consider changing the standard operating procedures to prevent first-year officers carrying Tasers, to clarify the term ''exigent circumstances'' and to reconsider their use in ''pain compliance''. ''This inquest and this death appear to have highlighted … a gap in police use of Taser and what might be regarded as a general community acceptance of how it is used,'' Mr Gormly said. ''[This] gap requires some attention.''

But the inquest heard it was most likely a combination of factors that killed Mr Curti, not the Tasers in isolation. Four medical experts agreed multiple stuns contributed to high adrenaline, excited delirium and a heightened need for respiration - all of which may have contributed to Mr Curti's death. It has been cold comfort for Mr Curti's two sisters, who had promised their mother they would ''look after Beto like he was our own son'' when she was dying of cancer 10 years ago - two years after their father also succumbed to the disease. ''We know that nothing is going to bring Beto back,'' Ms Laudisio said. ''But it would be good to think there was a purpose of what happened to him. That things will actually change so that people think before they act.''