'Modesty' caused fatal fall: Witness

A man who fell 100 metres to his death at a vineyard concert may have had his "modesty" to blame, a witness has said.
Kenneth Edward Hughes, 47, was found dead at the bottom of a bluff at Rifleman's Vineyard, Dartmoor Valley, after a concert at Sacred Hill Winery on February 21 last year.
Kerrinda Kell, of Napier, who was one of a group of nine in Mr Hughes' concert party, gave evidence at yesterday's coroner's inquest and said she, too, came close to falling from the cliff while searching for somewhere to go to the toilet.
"We had no idea there was a bluff there," Ms Kell told Eastern Districts coroner Chris Devonport.
At the end of the concert, about 10pm, the group had been waiting near the venue's exit for a taxi, which was running late.
With no portaloos near the exit, a number of the party, including Mr Hughes, wandered off to find somewhere to go to the toilet, and crossed a stock fence bordering the cliff face, she said.
"I split from the rest of them and Ken had gone to my left ... that's the last I saw of him."
She stopped suddenly when she realised the "land just dropped away". "I was so close to doing what Ken had just done it freaked me out ... Ken would have just been going to the toilet and never saw the drop ... he was unlucky he was more modest and actually went further over the fence."
A toxicology report detected alcohol, methamphetamine and codeine in Mr Hughes' system.
Off-duty Napier Police Constable Kevin Rooney, who also accompanied Mr Hughes to the concert, said he was "shocked and angry" to hear of the methamphetamine discovered in his friend.
While Mr Hughes' wife had died and he was taking painkillers after a bad car accident, Mr Rooney was "absolutely confident" his friend did not take his own life.
"He had just started dating again and was getting on with his life."
He said he was unaware of the bluff just metres from where the group was waiting for a taxi.
Department of Labour investigator Ray Mardon said neither the concert promoters, Civic Events, nor Sacred Hill Winery, had been responsible for Mr Hughes at the time of the incident.
Sacred Hill director David Mason said the site was under full control of the promoters. He said while he did not consider it the winery's function to "dictate to them how to run a concert", he had raised the cliff hazard with promoters and was told increased security staff would be patrolling the area.
Civic Events director Brent Eccles said his company had adequately mitigated the risks, and claimed it was responsible for crowd control only within the venue. The cliff face was outside the venue, he said.
The inquest continues today.