Man dies after being restrained by customers at Gold Coast restaurant

A 45-year-old man who had to be restrained by patrons at a Gold Coast restaurant has died.

The man, who had told authorities several times during the week that he was having mental health issues, burst into Thai Chim restaurant in Sanctuary Cove at about 7:15pm, repeating, "Someone wants to kill me".

Staff tried to remove him from the premises, but he was eventually restrained by diners.

Police said diners had done the right thing.

According to south eastern regional crime coordinator Detective Superintendent Brendan Smith, the man had been "affected by mental health issues or was in some kind of psychotic state".

"There was no person chasing this man. There was no person involved in threatening him," Superintendent Smith said.

"He was involved in two instances prior to his death where he interacted with some community members and took some property, and some of those persons were attempting to recover their stolen property. There were no threats."

The man was trying to reach the kitchen when he was restrained.

"I would suggest the persons in that restaurant who did restrain him have done the right thing," the Superintendent said.

"They've protected other (people) in that restaurant because of that man's mental health and the fact that he was close to accessing weapons."

It is unclear at this stage whether this was a mental health concern or drug related.

"He wasn't known [to police] in respect to criminal activity," Superintendent Smith said.

Superintendent Smith has called for anyone around at the time of the incident to report what they saw.

The Ethical Standards Command is now looking into the matter and will prepare a report for the coroner.

Jonathan Jackson - 20-2-23