One of Darryl Richard Kitto's caregiver's was emotional and tried to fight back tears as she remembered the details of his death last year.
Kitto, who was intellectually disabled and had two caregivers, fell off a cliff at the Rakaia Gorge on April 17, 2016.
One of his caregivers had been taking a photo of the 47-year-old when he stumbled and fell to his death.
His caregiver, was called as a witness in the coronial inquest into the death of Kitto in Christchurch on Tuesday, and tried to fight back tears as she described seeing Kitto fall.
The inquest heard that Kitto wanted a second photo at the gorge from a different angle and used one his caregiver's hand to assist him in stepping down to a lower section of a mound they were on.
"He was stable when he let go of my hand," his caregiver told the inquest.
Kitto's caregiver then stepped back to take the photo, but when she looked up Kitto had stumbled and fallen off the cliff, the inquest heard.
"I started screaming Darryl's name, there was no sign of Darryl and no response," the caregiver said.
Senior Constable Andrew Grant, who was at the scene, told the inquest police are satisfied there is no criminal liability surrounding the death of Kitto.
Coroner Sue Johnson concluded the inquest by saying she believes Kitto's death was an accident. However, she will release her findings at a later date.
- NZN