The coroners' inquest into the death of a Maple Ridge, B.C., man in police custody two years ago began today, as civil liberties activists raised concerns about the treatment of another inebriated man in a police holding cell.

Fifty-five-year-old Ian Alexander Young was found unresponsive in his jail cell in October, 2008. He was taken into police custody after he was found lying on the side of the road, after spending an evening drinking at a bar.

Much of the testimony Tuesday at the inquest into Young's death focused on how many drinks he had consumed at the pub. A friend and bartender say he had no more than two beers, but jurors also heard that his blood alcohol level would suggest he drank 20 times that amount.

Autopsy results show that Young died from a head injury -- an injury his family says went undetected by paramedics and police officers.

Cameron Ward, the family's lawyer, is now requesting that senior Mounties testify about whether recommendations from inquests into similar deaths have been acted on.

"Juries have been considering other similar cases over the years. They've made recommendations in the past concerning how the police and jail guards ought to respond to such cases," Ward said.

The inquest is scheduled to continue on Wednesday, with guards and Young's wife taking the stand.

A second alleged in-custody incident

On Tuesday, the BC Civil Liberties Association released a surveillance video taken in a Williams Lake jail cell in January.

In the footage, Lloyd Gilbert appears to be drunk -- he seems to be wandering around his cell, looking for a way out.

But after Gilbert climbs onto a sink, RCMP officers have had enough. They come into the room and tell him to stop.

When he defies their orders, a chair is brought in and Gilbert is strapped down. He remains strapped to the chair for three hours.

"Somebody who is that seriously drunk is in a medical state that requires some kind of medical attention," BCCLA President Robert Holmes told CTV News.

In a statement, Williams Lake RCMP said that Gilbert was arrested for causing a disturbance, and was not seriously drunk.

"The restraint chair is an approved device, in policy, used to prevent prisoners from harming themselves, harming others, or damaging cell block property. In this instance it was used for all three of those reasons," the statement says.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Bal Brach