The senior prison officer on duty the night an inmate died at the Prison Farm came under intense pressure yesterday when he took the stand to give evidence at the inquest.

Divisional officer Myron Galloway was repeatedly asked to explain why it took him so many hours to ensure medical attention for prisoner Steven (Pepe) Dill when the Prison Farm inmate began suffering a chronic asthma attack on December 19, 2001.

He and lawyer for the Dill family, Saul Froomkin QC, frequently clashed throughout the day-long testimony, which resulted in Mr. Froomkin finally throwing his hands up and saying "I'm finished".

At one point, an agitated Mr. Galloway said: "I have never been in a situation like this. I thought this was an inquest and not a trial."

While on the stand, Mr. Galloway accused four witnesses, all prison inmates, of lying in their evidence about their version of events the night Mr. Dill died.

The prison officer said Mr. Dill had been to see him just after 5 p.m., as some inmates claimed, but had not stipulated that he either get a new pump or to be sent to hospital, and said, contrary to their claims, Mr. Dill had never said that if he did not get help he would die.

Throughout, Mr. Galloway said father-of-two Mr. Dill, 41, had shown no signs of distress when asking for a new asthma pump just after 5 p.m. until just minutes before he collapsed and became unconscious at about 11.50 p.m.

Therefore he said, he did not think Mr. Dill's condition had been urgent, and so did not seek immediate medical attention or call an ambulance. He also said no prison officer had raised serious concern about his condition, and he had relied upon their judgement.

Mr. Galloway also denied claims that he had told Mr. Dill that 'if he died, he would be one less prisoner for him to think about', as claimed by some inmates.

Mr. Galloway described Mr. Dill's deterioration as "dramatic - very quick", and said it had happened in a matter of minutes.

The inquest has heard so far that Mr. Dill first asked for a new asthma pump after returning from work release at about 4.30 p.m. on the day he died.

Mr. Dill went to see Mr. Galloway, who was in charge, just after 5 p.m.

Mr. Galloway told Police in his statement that even then, he did not think Mr. Dill's condition to be urgent, so waited for about an hour before "attempting" to call the duty nurse.

He told Police at the time that had Mr. Dill exhibited some signs of distress he would have acted straight away.

This was despite claims by inmates that Mr. Dill was puffing and wheezing.

However, Mr. Froomkin yesterday produced phone records for the seven-strong jury that showed that the duty nurse was not paged until 6.47 p.m.

Mr. Galloway told the court he had tried to call her three times previously but he had been unable to get through because it was raining.

But nurse Marionette DeShields-Zuill has previously said that even though the records showed she had been paged at 6.47 p.m., she had not received the message.

It was almost 10 p.m. before she was called again at home and finally informed of the situation.

Holding the prison's phone records up to the court, Mr. Froomkin asked why there was not a single call made to the nurse between 5.10 p.m. and 6.47 p.m..

Mr. Galloway said: "Because they did not go through."

But the lawyer hit back: "I suggest to you that the first time you called was at 6.47 p.m., as you state in your statement."

The prison officer said: "That's when I called again. The first three calls did not go through. I tried three times."

He said he could not explain why the fourth call was logged, and he could not explain why so many other various calls had been successfully made from the prison between 5.10 p.m. and 6.47 p.m., despite the rain.

Yesterday's hearing heard that Mr. Galloway had been told at 9.30 p.m. that Mr. Dill was feeling sick and was having difficulty walking, so the senior prison officer had given instruction for him to remain in the card room for a while to relax.

However, when Mr. Galloway finally did make contact with the nurse at 10 p.m., he made no mention of that and merely told her that Mr. Dill needed a new asthma pump.

Mr. Galloway told the inquest that was all he had said because he had no other information to give her, and he did not believe Mr. Dill to be in distress.

He said he had no idea that asthma could lead to difficulty walking, and could lead to death. He also said he had no idea Mr. Dill had a chronic asthma condition.

However, although she was only a ten-minute car drive away from the prison at Ferry Reach, it was almost midnight when the nurse finally showed up, and by then Mr. Dill had slipped into unconsciousness and was showing no signs of life.

He was pronounced dead an hour later.

Mr. Froomkin also produced a job description for a prison divisional officer to the court, which claimed that any illnesses reported by prisoners should be relayed by the senior officer to a health practitioner, and if they could not be reached, a private practitioner should be called.

Mr. Froomkin asked why Mr. Galloway had not attempted to call somebody else when he could not reach the duty nurse.

The prison officer responded: "Because there was not a medical emergency."

He also stated how he had become suspicious over time because some inmates had claimed to need hospital attention just to get away from the prison farm.

Lawyer for the prison authority, Delroy Duncan, asked Mr. Galloway if he had twice been reprimanded by bosses during the year 2001 for sending prisoners to hospital before first seeking medical attention from the duty nurse.

On one occasion, an inmate had been hit in the head by a cricket ball and was unconscious, and on another, a prisoner had slipped and struck his back and neck and was showing signs of paralysis.

Mr. Galloway said on both occasions he had been called to the chief officer and asked to explain his actions and why he had chosen to send them to hospital before first going to the duty nurse.

However, he said the reprimands would not have prevented him from calling an ambulance or seeking immediate medical attention again, if he thought the condition warranted it.

The inquest continues this morning before Coroner Will Francis.