Qld cop knew Taser victim as 'violent'

(AAP) - A police officer who fatally tasered a north Queensland man decided to equip himself with the device after a phone call warning of a "sh***y" job", an inquest has heard.
The inquest into the death of Antonio Galeano heard a recording of a phone call from a police communications officer to Constable Marina Cross who was on duty at the Ayr Police Station on June 12, 2009.
"Have I got a sh***y" job for you," the operator told Constable Cross.
She told Const Cross she had received a phone call from Mr Galeano's girlfriend Sandra Wynne, reporting he was smashing up her home at Brandon, south of Townsville.
"He's running around naked, he's out of it," the operator advised Const Cross.
Const Cross said that when her colleague Senior Constable Craig Myles learnt it was Mr Galeano who was creating the disturbance, he equipped himself with the Taser stun gun.
"He advised me he had previous dealings with Mr Galeano and he felt he needed to equip himself with a Taser," she told the court.
She said Sen Constable Myles told her Mr Galeano had displayed a "violent nature" during his previous dealings with the man.
The inquest was earlier told that the Taser was used 28 times on Mr Galeano, and he was pronounced dead by paramedics at Ms Wynne's home, less than an hour after she called police.
Another Ayr-based officer, Constable Darren Smith, told the inquest he had arrested Mr Galeano less than two days before the incident.
Mr Galeano had been hanging around a railway track and acting erratically so he and his partner had arrested him and took him to hospital for an emergency mental health examination.
He said Mr Galeano proved very difficult to subdue and he suffered a shoulder injury during the incident.
"In my entire career, I have never dealt with anyone as strong as he was," he said.
Const Cross is due to continue giving evidence to the Townsville inquest on Tuesday while Sen Const Myles is due to appear on Wednesday.