An erratic, ailing man was too violent to be rushed via ambulance to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in the hours before he died, an inquest heard yesterday.

And Police could not get close enough to the volatile man to transport him to get life-saving medical treatment.

A Coroner's jury heard how authorities attempted to get 38-year-old Michael Burgess medical treatment.

The six-man, two woman jury is trying to determine the how, when and where Mr.

Burgess, of Rosemont Avenue, Pembroke, met his death on May 27, 1996.

Emergency nurse Jacqueline Tester said that Police Sgt. Clive Brown called the hospital's emergency department around 5 a.m. requesting an ambulance and doctor attend Hamilton Police Station.

She said Sgt. Brown told her that they had a man with a nose bleed who was so combative that Police could not get near him.

Mrs. Tester said she advised Sgt. Brown to pinch the man's nose and call the Police doctor since there was only one doctor on duty and it was not standard policy for doctors to make ambulance runs.

When Sgt. Brown called back a second time to say that the man's nose was still bleeding, she said she advised him to bring the man to the hospital in a Police car since he was still violent.

"The information I had from Clive was that the patient was so aggressive and combative that the Police officers were not able to restrain him,'' she recalled. "If Police officers could not restrain him then we couldn't either.

"Even with the Police's assistance we are not equipped to bring in aggressive patients. The ambulance is small. If a patient is fighting in the back of an ambulance he could hurt an ambulance staff or himself.'' But Mrs. Tester said the hospital was equipped to deal with "excited and aggressive'' patients.

"The problem was how to get him there,'' she added.

During the four-day inquest, the jury has heard how Mr. Burgess consumed numerous alcoholic beverages at several bars in the hours leading up to his death.

American pathologist Dr. Valerie Rao said Mr. Burgess died of cocaine induced psychosis stemming from a mixture of cocaine and alcohol.

Yesterday, the jury heard how the owner of the Anchorage Club on North Shore Road in Devonshire served Mr. Burgess two drinks -- one of which he spilled.

"He had more than enough to drink,'' she said.

Next-door neighbour, Raschid Alami-Merroni testified that he was awakened around 4 a.m. by a man making strange noises.

He said he went to his window, but did not see anything.

Rachel Hayward told Police that as she made her way home from a Front Street club she spotted Mr. Burgess running up and down the street.

Judging from the way he was carrying on, Miss Hayward said she thought he was on drugs.

She said she and her cousin stopped Mr. Burgess and laid him down on Par-La-Ville Road in a bid to calm him down.

"He said `I want to die. Kill me, kill me!','' she recalled.

After the Police arrived on the scene, Miss Hayward said Mr. Burgess erupted into a frenzy when the officers mentioned handcuffs.

She said the officers restrained Mr. Burgess and had him handcuffed by the time the ambulance arrived.

Miss. Hayward also said Mr. Burgess refused to get in the ambulance.

"He looked scared like a wounded animal.'' Earlier in the day, Miss Hayward's cousin Nicholas McGavern testified that he saw an unidentified Police officer drop onto his knees on Mr. Burgess' head.

"The officer dropped the full weight of his body, onto his knees, right on his head after he was on the ground,'' Mr. McGavern recalled. "And then he held him down with his knee.'' The inquest continues today before Senior Coroner Will Francis.