A Coroner's jury will today decide how, when and where Michael Eugene Burgess met his death almost two-years ago.

Senior Coroner Will Francis is expected to sum up the seven-days of testimony this morning before sending the six-man, two-woman jury out to deliberate.

Yesterday, the officer at the centre of the flurry of controversy surrounding the death of the 38-year-old Pembroke man gave his account of the hours preceding Mr. Burgess' sudden death on May 27, 1996.

During the week-long inquest, the jury has heard allegations that Det. Con.

David Abraham punched an erratic Mr. Burgess while he was being placed in a Police car following a violent episode on a City street.

Yesterday, Det. Con. David Abraham insisted that he did not punch Mr. Burgess.

"He was extremely violent,'' he said. "At times I had to use force but I never used excessive force. I did not punch him.'' He said he cleared the back seat of an unmarked Police car so that fellow officers could place a frenzied Mr. Burgess in it.

After Mr. Burgess was seated on the edge of car, Det. Con. Abraham said he went around the other side of the car to pull the struggling man across the back seat. As a result of his wiggling, Mr. Burgess fell into the foot space of the car.

"I pulled several times on his belt to get him back in the seat,'' he said.

While en route to Hamilton Police Station, Det. Con Abraham said that Mr.

Burgess continued to kick and struggle in the back seat of the car.

Once at the station, Mr. Burgess was carried in by three officers and placed on the floor of the jail area.

Det. Con. Abraham said that when the officers left the jail area, Mr. Burgess started to kick the wall and hit his head on the floor. According to Det. Con.

Abraham, this could have been when Mr. Burgess sustained the numerous injuries on his body, including a black eye.

"When he arrived at Hamilton Police station he had just a few droplets of blood coming from his nose,'' he said. "When he left Hamilton Police station I couldn't see any injuries cause his face was covered in blood that was coming from the general area of his nose.'' Det. Con. Roger Blades testified that while Mr. Burgess was in the jail area, Det. Con. Abraham put his feet between the man's legs, on the ankle cuffs, to stop him from moving about.

And he said that P.c. Timothy Herbert was trying to hold onto Mr. Burgess head to prevent him from striking it on the floor.

Det. Con. Blades asserted that he did not see anyone assault Burgess.

P.c. Herbert told the jury that he thought Mr. Burgess had a mental problem when he witnessed his behaviour at the Hamilton Police Station.

Last week, American pathologist Dr. Valerie Rao told the inquest that Mr.

Burgess, of Rosemont Avenue, died from a cocaine induced psychosis stemming from a mixture of alcohol and cocaine.

She also said that victims suffering from the condition should be immediately transported to a hospital where their respiration should be monitored.

During the week-long inquest the jury has heard testimony of how an erratic Mr. Burgess was spotted by several people banging his head on City buildings.

When Police and emergency medical technicians attempted to escort the man to an ambulance he became violent, a reaction which they interpreted as a refusal to medical attention.

Burgess was later rushed to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital where he went into respiratory arrest and died.