A witness has told a Darwin court he heard a man cry out in prison the night before a fellow prisoner was found hanging in his cell.

Douglas Bruce Scott died in Darwin's Berrimah Prison in 1985.

A coronial inquest found Mr Scott hanged himself but his widow believes he was killed by prison guards.

In the Northern Territory Supreme Court today, witness Jeffrey Bindai said he was in custody the night Mr Scott died.

He said he heard noises at night and saw three guards enter Mr Scott's cell, before he heard someone cry out from the cell.

Mr Bindai told the court that the next morning he saw Mr Scott's body wrapped up in a sheet and being carried from the cell.

The judge also asked Mr Bindai a string of questions.

Mr Bindai told the court through an interpreter that he saw blood on the floor of Mr Scott's cell the night after three prison guards went into the room.

The judge took over the examination of the witness after the court failed to understand some of his answers.

Mr Bindai is a key witness for the plaintiffs as he was in prison at the time Mr Scott died.