Please note: This story contains reference to someone who has died.

The inquest into the 2017 death in custody of Raymond Noel Lindsay Thomas has heard Victorian police pursued his car at 130km/hour due to their concerns of its "dodgy" appearance.

Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Wiradjuri man Raymond Noel died during said police pursuit on June 25, 2017.

Driving home from his local supermarket in South Preston at 11.00pm, he was pursued by a highway patrol car and died in Victoria Street in Thornbury, just three kilometres from the supermarket.

The officers who pursued Raymond Noel announced his death 21 seconds after formally calling in the pursuit to their area command.

Raymond Noel had left his home in his black Holden Commodore when he was spotted by Sergeant John Sybenga who was driving the highway patrol vehicle and Senior Constable Deborah McFarlane, his passenger, who were conducting random traffic patrols.

The inquest, which began on Monday, heard from Sgt. Sybenga who said he saw the black Commodore which had New South Wales licence plates coming from a side street and noted it as suspicious.

He began following the Commodore and Snr Const. McFarlane allegedly checked the plates in the patrol car's onboard computer. She confirmed the car was unregistered.

"The car to me was worthy of a closer look because it was suspicious," the Sergeant told the inquest.

He noted that in his experience, "a car travelling in back side streets in about this area at night with interstate plates is worthy of a check".

"It's hard to sum up, it was just dodgy."

The inquest heard that the police had no other concerns, only that the car was unregistered.

Sgt. Sybenga pursued Raymond Noel along Dundas Street to Victoria Road where the Commodore accelerated over the speed limit. Sgt. Sybenga noted that it was "not by a great deal".

The inquest heard Raymond Noel made a sharp turn into Victoria Road and Sgt. Sybenga said he had to "accelerate to a speed over the speed limit of 50 to catch up".

"I had a feeling he may have spotted the marked car," he said.

Data provided to the inquest from the police patrol car recorded an increase from 0 to 103km/hour within 100 metres of Sgt. Sybenga initially pursuing the Commodore. The car hit speeds of up to 134km/hour before following the Commodore onto Victoria Road.

Sgt. Sybenga said he did not consider the pursuit formal and therefore did not turn on lights or sirens.

The officers then spotted debris on Victoria Road indicating the Commodore had hit a parked vehicle, prompting Sgt. Sybenga to increase to a speed of 156km/hour and Snr Const. McFarlane to call the pursuit in via radio.

The Commodore then sped off the road and over a hill. Approaching the crashed Commodore, Snr Const. McFarlane spotted Raymond Noel deceased on site.

"He's come to grief. He's come to grief," she said in the place of pursuit termination.

The inquest heard at the time of Raymond Noel's crash there was 1.6 seconds of distance between the Commodore and the patrol car. Both Sgt. Sybenga and Snr Const. McFarlane told the court they were not aware of the speed they were traveling during the pursuit.

It was established that both officers had been trained and certified to conduct pursuits and that Sgt. Sybenga is a certified pursuit supervisor with over a decade of experience in highway patrol.

Police protocol from 2016 dictates police are not required to activate their lights or sirens or formally declare a pursuit for a pursuit to occur.

Victoria Police's Road and Policing Command Assistant Commissioner Elizabeth McKenzie prepared a report for the court which stated a pursuit must be justified by a "need to address serious risk posed by the offender to the health or safety of anyone and the serious risk must exist."

The point of time which the pursuit was initiated is at the discretion of the Coroner, along with the decision on the appropriateness of the pursuit and whether correct pursuit protocol had been followed.

In a statement issued on Monday, Raymond Noel's parents Aunty Debbie and Uncle Ray shared their hopes for justice.

"We hope that the Coroner can recommend changes to Victoria Police and the Victorian Government that will ensure no one else has to experience the grief that our family is still processing," they said.

According to Guardian Australia between 1989 and 2017, 22 per cent of police pursuit deaths were Aboriginal people. Police pursuit is the highest reported rate of Aboriginal deaths in custody.

The inquest continues until Friday.

By Rachael Knowles