Man dies in tragic stairway fall

A night out with friends ended in tragedy yesterday when a slide down a banister rail cost a young Tauranga fisherman his life.

Blair Robinson, 25, fell two-and-a-half stories after toppling from a staircase banister inside the Quay Point building in Gisborne late on Friday night.

Detective Wayne Beattie from Gisborne police said Robinson was taken to Gisborne Hospital but died later as a result of his injuries. He said alcohol was not a factor in what he describes as a tragic accident.

Prior to the accident, Robinson had been in the Meetings Irish Ale House, in the Quay Point building.

Publican Sean Liley said he remembered seeing Robinson with about five or six friends - a "good bunch" of young guys. He told the Herald on Sunday his staff are still coming to terms with the tragedy. "It's a total and utter accident that has come just totally out of the blue. It's pretty horrific for a guy to lose his life like that. It's just nuts."

He said Robinson, a Gisborne local who had shifted to the Bay of Plenty but was home visiting friends, was known by some of his staff. "There is too much heartache out there at the moment." Liley said he had never heard of people sliding on the banisters before. The establishment has been open 18 months.

Robinson's aunt Mary Croskery, said her nephew lived for and loved fishing. "It was his passion, it really was. From when he was 5-years-old he was taught to fish by his dad." Robinson held national titles for game fishing.

"He loved his mates and his mates loved him... he was a bit shy but God, he had a wicked sense of humour," Croskery said.

His parents Christina and Neil arrive back in New Zealand tonight from London.