Lonely death of 'catman' sparks anger

By KATHERINE HOBY and PATRICK GOWER

The lights are out at "the catman's" place.

The decomposed body of the elderly man was found in his Freemans Bay flat yesterday, after a lawnmowing contractor noticed flies and a terrible smell.

The man had not been seen for three months, and neighbours the Herald spoke to did not know his real name.

The dead man was something of a loner but always said hello to neighbour John Bonis. He had become known as the "catman" for regularly feeding the neighbourhood cats in the early hours.

News of his death, the third in two years at the council-owned Beresford Flats, last night drew complaints from fellow residents, who said the council did not monitor its elderly residents often enough.

Mr Bonis said the council appeared not to care about the mostly pensioner residents in the flat blocks.

"The council have said they make regular checks. I'd like to see the lot of them come round and see what it's really like," he said. "They are not making the checks. I'm sorry but they are not. I don't think they want to know."

Mr Bonis would like to see regular spot checks made at council flats.

"It wouldn't take much. If they came round for a cup of tea and struck up a conversation they would know all is not well round here."

Most of the residents were hermits, who had lost touch with family or friends. They had one telephone and one washing machine among 28. Many did not eat regularly, Mr Bonis said.

Auckland City Council spokesman Stephen Rainbow said tenancy officers had found nothing wrong when they visited the flat on Monday after noticing missed rent payments.

"I won't go into the details of how the situation had changed since then but I think you can probably imagine."

He said the three deaths were not unusual for pensioner housing. They were part of "what happens when you are dealing with elderly tenants."

Mr Rainbow said the Beresford Flats would be sold shortly because they were no longer suitable for pensioner housing.

This had nothing to do with the grisly finds, he said, which were "one of those things that happen when you're running accommodation for older people."

The council set up a buddy system 18 months ago for its 1672 pensioner units in Auckland. Under the scheme, which includes the Beresford Flats, "buddies" were supposed to keep in touch with each other to ensure they were all right.

Mr Rainbow said these schemes worked only if residents put the effort in and wanted to be a part of them.