Police have to deal with such persons on a regular basis - and as the Nestor Vasquez Jr case shows - it can be mishandled with tragic consequences. The 60 year old Vasquez was put into a cell with 28 year old Collin Francis - who was in a dangerous and unstable state, awaiting charges for stabbing a psychiatric nurse. Francis beat Vasquez unconscious, leaving him in a brain damaged coma from which he never recovered.

On Tuesday, his family called for police to re-introduce the "Police and Mental Health Training Manual" as a training component for the next intake of police recruits.

Last night, Commissioner Chester Williams confirmed that is has been added to the curriculum and will be part of the training for the next intake of 170 officers.