KEY POINTS:
The death of a Palmerston North hockey player who was found with serious head injuries in a Napier street on Sunday was a "tragic accident," police said.
Post mortem results revealed Nettin Ashok Patel, 21, died as a result of a fall.
Police had initially treated the death of the former New Zealand under-18 representative as potentially suspicious, and Detective Senior Sergeant Bill Gregory said they were aware of several rumours circulating about the death, including references to witchcraft and racial attacks.
None of the rumours were true, he said.
"We can state quite categorically that Mr Patel's death was an accident and nothing more," he said.
Mr Gregory said Mr Patel had been playing in a hockey tournament in Napier on Saturday.
He and a friend left a Napier bar by taxi about 1.45am on Sunday and were dropped off outside a winery on Faraday Street.
The taxi driver said both were drunk.
Mr Gregory said a man came across Mr Patel lying on his own in the middle of Faraday Street about 3am.
He helped him to the side of the road, called the police, and then left.
By the time police arrived, Mr Patel had disappeared, and instead police found his friend.
Thinking he was the man who had been reported lying in the road, they took him back to the police station.
Mr Patel's friend had a limited memory of events, Mr Gregory said.
The next confirmed sighting of Mr Patel was at 4am by two men who found him lying injured on the road, about 100m from the winery.
He was taken to hospital but died that day.
Mr Gregory said the post mortem had revealed Mr Patel had died as the result of a fall.
"He was found lying on the ground at the bottom of a bank and we believe he has fallen down that bank and hit his head.
"We're quite satisfied this is just an unfortunate accident and no foul play was involved," Mr Gregory said.
Police have referred the death to the coroner.
- NZPA
