The witnesses were immigration officers Valentine Nobeth, 27, and Mohd Azizi Amid, 25.

Valentine told the court that neither he nor his colleagues received any first-aid training, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

When asked the reason, he said: “The authority (to assign duties) depends on the head of department. How he chooses the officers, I am not sure.”

Valentine testified that he had given CPR to Thomas according to instructions by emergency services via the phone when the latter was found unconscious on the night of July 9 last year.

According to Valentine, two officers from the Undocumented Migrants’ Health Record Unit (URKP), Azizi and Harith Izat, were on duty with him that night.

The unit was in charge of monitoring the health status of detainees, noting down their complaints and administering medication according to the advice of a medical assistant.

Valentine said shortly after reporting for duty at 12am, he received a call from the URKP team coordinator, whom he identified only as Tuan Shamsul. The coordinator had informed the three men of an emergency at Cell 1 of Block A.

He said the cell was specifically used to hold immigration detainees with diseases.

“Most of them required regular medication for illnesses such as diabetes, high-blood pressure and gout. Medicine will be given according to their sickness,” he added.

Valentine said Thomas was found at around 12.04am lying on the floor unconscious, with his tongue slightly out.

“I did not see any movement, and he didn’t seem to be breathing.

“He wasn’t wearing a shirt and was only wearing a pair of shorts,” he said, adding that there were more than 10 other detainees in the cell.

“When I asked them what happened, they told me that Thomas was sleeping when he suddenly started jerking as if he was having a seizure before he finally stopped,” he said.

Valentine told the inquest that Tuan Shamsul then told them he had already called the emergency services unit at the hospital, adding that they then called him back.

“We were instructed by the people at the hospital to carry out 600 chest compressions while waiting for the paramedics to arrive.

“I started the CPR first, and then I took turns with Azizi and Harith until the ambulance arrived,” he said, adding that this went on for around 10 minutes.

“When the paramedics arrived, they checked for his pulse and looked for eye movements. Then, they attached wires to his body.”

The Nigerian was pronounced dead shortly after, Valentine said adding that Tuan Shamsul informed them that he needed to lodge a police report.

“We left the body alone until police arrived,” he said.

Meanwhile, Azizi told the Coroner’s Court that there was a five-minute delay from the time the officers found Thomas unconscious to them administering first-aid treatment.

He said they needed to wait for instructions from the emergency services unit as they had no official health-related qualifications.

“We cannot simply do anything,” he said.

Thomas’ family had filed an application for an inquest into his death as they suspected that he could have been assaulted and refused medication while in detention.

Thomas, who was a student at the Limkokwing University, was arrested with 19 others during a raid on an apartment in Kepong.

The inquest continues tomorrow.