Teen drank herself to death, coroner confirms

An 18-year-old drank herself to death while partying with friends, a coroner has found.

The heartbroken father of teenager Bayli Elliot told the Herald on Sunday he received the coroner's report confirming his daughter died of alcohol poisoning. He hopes her death serves as a warning to stop other teens binge-drinking.

Bayli had been with friends at a Labour Weekend party in Timaru last year. She was found comatose and died shortly after midnight.

Shannon Elliot, 41, said the coroner's letter and the upcoming one-year anniversary brought back the terrible pain.

"Alcohol has a lot to answer for," he said. "The letter didn't really tell us anything we didn't know but it brought up all the pain again."

Elliot, who separated from Bayli's mother Michelle Parker 10 years ago, got a knock at the door from police at 4.30am.

"That is something you never expect," Elliot said. "It's awful. Awful for everyone. Awful for police to tell someone their daughter is dead."

He said some days were worse than others but he had to get through because he loved his family.

"When I'm feeling a bit depressed about it all I'd almost like to go to visit her, so to speak. But you can't come back from that."

Elliot thought he had raised his daughter to be a responsible drinker. She was a thoughtful girl who had been introduced slowly to alcohol at family barbecues "and would sit on one RTD for the whole afternoon".

Elliot said Bayli's death had changed his views on alcohol. He still had a quiet drink but never to excess.

"If I flick on to something on TV where teenagers are drinking and making a mess of themselves I have to switch it off," he said.

"I can't deal with it. It takes me straight back there."

He was dreading the anniversary on October 27.

"I have a big picture of her on the TV cabinet and I look at that every night," he said. "We've just had her birthday this month so I don't know what I'll do in October. It's gutting."