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A woman whose husband lay dead in a pub for two days after choking on a piece of steak is angry its owners did not check the toilets before closing time.
Bertha Erepeta had been eating and drinking with her husband Joseph, 58, at the Bank Bar in Kaikohe, before she popped outside for a cigarette.
When she returned, she couldn't find her husband of 40 years and presumed he'd gone to a nearby pub with mates.
She returned home that night, and only became worried about him the following day after he failed to show up.
A coroner's hearing last week heard that Joseph had died after choking on a piece of steak in the Bank Bar's toilets on that Saturday night in March.
But it wasn't until the following Monday morning - and after Bertha had called police on Sunday - that a cleaner found his body in the toilet cubicle, jammed against the door.
Owner John Maurice was able to force the door ajar, but it was far too late for paramedics to do anything.
A post-mortem examination discovered a "large piece of steak" in Joseph's stomach, according to coroner Brandt Shortland. His false teeth were on his body.
Speaking exclusively to the Herald on Sunday, 61-year-old Bertha Erepeta described the meal that killed her husband as a "good feed" - he loved well-done steak.
At home, he was able to eat steak without his false teeth, she said, but that night he would have been too embarrassed to remove his dentures in public. "So he would have tried to chew the steak with his false teeth.
"The last time I ever saw him, he was happy."
Wiping away her tears, Bertha said she was angry that the Bank Bar had failed to check the toilets properly - or even apologise for not finding her husband for two days.
She was in shock when she was told of his death. "They have gangs in Kaikohe - I thought he must have gone down the road and been attacked."
Owner John Maurice told the inquest the toilets were checked at night and normally cleaners worked every day.
But on that particular weekend he was away at a wedding and the manager refused to work on Sunday, which forced him to close the bar.
"That's not good enough," says Bertha. "I mean, they should still check the toilets before they go home, especially on the Saturday night. They should have found him.
"I really wanted them to own up to their responsibility because this is something that could have been avoided."
Maurice refused to comment to the Herald on Sunday saying only: "This is something that happened in the past and we're trying to move on."
But Bertha Erepeta is finding that difficult to do. She went to the bar a few weeks ago but the woman there said it had new owners.
Life has been hard since her husband's death, with every day a struggle to survive on the widow's benefit. "My kids miss their dad. I miss him a lot. When I'm in bed I think about him. It is really hard for me at night-time. I think about him a lot.
"He was a good man. He was a hard worker, always helping someone. We had our ups and downs but I really miss him."
The coroner said a full report and recommendations would be released at a later date.
