Untied shoelace may have led to death

A Lower Hutt man drowned in the Hutt River after possibly tripping on an untied shoelace, a coroner has found.

Brett Ramon Waiwai had been spending an evening drinking wine and talking with a friend when he was last seen on November 5 last year.

The 30-year-old man had no fixed abode, but lived between friends and family in the Lower Hutt and Petone area, a coroner's findings stated.

He had left his friend's house that night after it was getting dark, and was described as tipsy, but not drunk.

Palmerston North Coroner Carla na Nagara said at approximately 9.30pm that night, an apparently very drunk man who broadly matched Mr Waiwai's description was seen crossing the road in heavy traffic on the Waihone St Bridge.

It was not, however, clear if that man was Mr Waiwai, Coroner na Nagara stated.

The wooden walkway from which Mr Waiwai appeared to have entered the water did not have rails, the findings stated.

It was exposed to the elements and very dark, with streetlights in the surrounding area providing only poor illumination.

The weather that night was described as inclement and the high tide had occurred around 7.20pm.

Coroner na Nagara said there was nothing in the evidence presented to her to suggest that Mr Waiwai was depressed, unhappy, or intending to end his life.

She found that Mr Waiwai had died at the tidal river bank of the Hutt River on Waihone St in Petone due to an accidental drowning following a fall.

"It was noted that when found, one of Mr Waiwai's shoelaces was undone. While it cannot be known with certainty how Mr Waiwai came to be in the water, I am satisfied that the evidence before me points to him having fallen accidentally - it is possible he tripped on his untied shoelace."

A post mortem examination revealed Mr Waiwai had a blood alcohol level of 39 micrograms per 100 millilitres, well below the legal driving limit.

THC levels in his blood suggested he had smoked the equivalent of a single cannabis cigarette within 30 minutes to 3.5 hours of his death.

A comprehensive police investigation also concluded there were no suspicious circumstances to Mr Waiwai's death.

- By Brendan Manning of APNZ

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