Coroner Alexandra Cunninghame suppressed the identities of the woman who died and her husband. Photo: The Press / Joanne Naish
A Christchurch woman accidentally drowned in her spa pool after returning home from a night of drinking at a Christmas party, a coroner has found.
The woman, aged in her 70s, was found in the pool by her husband the morning after the party in 2021, although their identities were suppressed by coroner Alexandra Cunninghame, along with the reasons why.
The man left the party at about 9.45pm and went straight to bed, with his dog, when he got home, while his wife and other colleagues continued on.
A colleague told the coroner the woman was "starting to surpass being moderately intoxicated", slurring her words and unable to hold a conversation by 1am.
An Uber was ordered for her, which arrived at 2.24am.
The driver thought the woman was very intoxicated and did not want to take her home, but they were assured by the woman's colleague that she would be okay, the coroner said.
"When the Uber arrived outside [her] home, she asked the driver where they were. She took a long time to exit the vehicle," Cunninghame said.
The woman's husband woke at 3.45am and noticed the dog was gone.
"He searched for it in the house, and then heard it in the backyard. He saw that the door that led to the backyard from the house was ajar. He let the dog inside, and went back to sleep," the coroner said.
"At 7:23am, he woke up. [His wife] was not in their room, and so he rang her mobile phone. There was no answer."
He went downstairs and found his wife in the pool.
She was not breathing, so he called 111. When paramedics arrived, they confirmed his wife was dead.
Coroner Cunninghame did not make recommendations relating to the death because the risk of spa pools in the context of alcohol use had already been the subject of findings by other coroners.
"The general risk of spa pool use, particularly when alcohol has been consumed, has been brought to public attention by way of earlier findings and I do not consider it necessary to make any comments or recommendations in this case," she said.
