SHAH ALAM, March 1 (Bernama) -- A pathologist told the Teoh Beng Hock inquest here today that he could not ascertain whether Teoh suffered asphyxiation due to strangulation or to being choked.

Dr Shahidan Md Noor of the Sungai Buloh Hospital said asphyxiation was a condition of severe deficient supply of oxygen to the body which prevented an individual from breathing normally.

He said he was not in the position to determine whether the carotid artery, which carries oxygenated blood to the brain, had been compressed by strangulation which caused asphyxiation to Teoh.

This was because the carotid artery had already been cut and dissected during the first post-mortem, said Dr Shahidan who is one of the pathologists who performed Teoh's second post-mortem on Nov 22 last year.

Asked under cross-examination by Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, for the Selangor government, whether the first post-mortem report revealed any findings on the carotid, he answered in the negative.

Teoh, the political aide of Selangor state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on the fifth-floor corridor of Plaza Masalam here, which also houses the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), on July 15 last year.

Dr Shahidan agreed with Malik's suggestion that if a person suffered from a "mild or modest" diffused cerebral hypoxia, a condition where the brain tissues did not get enough oxygen due to strangulation, the person could suffer confusion and even fainting.

However, he said, he did not think it possible that Teoh might have lost consciousness to a certain extent, but not to the point of death, after he was strangled or choked.

He also said that it was possible that Teoh's tongue could be elevated due to strangulation but he did not agree that the bruised tongue as reported in the second post-mortem was the result of choking.

He also defended his conclusion that the injuries on Teoh's neck were most likely caused by the impact of the fall as the neck experienced hyperflexing and hyperextension during the incident.

He disagreed with Malik's suggestion that Teoh's neck injury happened as his chin landed on the floor first and affected the neck, instead of the legs being the first body parts to hit the ground, as reported in the post-mortem.

Dr Shahidan said such severe injury sustained by Teoh in the internal part of his neck was not due to any other mechanism but a fall.

Teoh's family lawyer, Gobind Singh Deo, also questioned Dr Shahidan at length on Teoh's neck injury.

He wanted to know why the bruises on the neck were not included in the first post-mortem report, why there was no mention of dissections on the muscles, backside, limbs as well as foot sole to ensure that there were no beatings suffered by Teoh while under custody, which, he said, suggested that the doctors who did the first autopsy might have conducted the tests in an imprudent and incompetent manner.

However, Dr Shahidan said that in the last post-mortem report the doctors said they found some abrasions on Teoh's neck.

Dr Shahidan said superficial bruises on the neck were not visible within 24 hours.

He initially agreed that the two doctors who did the first post-mortem had not followed the protocol by not mentioning the neck injury and dissection made especially on the muscles but later retracted it and said that there was no protocol but only guidelines.

Coroner Azmil Munthapa Abas asked which part he wanted to retract and he said he wanted to retract the "protocol" because they had only strict guidelines to follow in carrying out their duty.

Gobind Singh said it was strange that some aspects on possible custodial death were not included in the report and in fact this might suggest possibility of a cover up.

The neck injury was very important now, he said, pointing out that Thai pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand could notice it by examining only the photos of the neck.

Dr Shahidan: "It (neck injury) was not prominent in the first autopsy because its superficial position was not easily visible.

When referred to a photo of Teoh's neck, he said he saw a reddish band on Teoh's neck and agreed with Gobind Singh that a further probe of the injury was needed.

He agreed that the reddish band could be due to the pressure put on the neck and it was possible that the pressure could include physical contact in that region like strangulation.

However, when Gobind Singh said that the first post-mortem report was incomplete, he said: "I think that is too harsh."

The hearing was adjourned to March 10.