15 Aug 2012

Coca-Cola to present evidence at inquest

9:20 pm on 15 August 2012

A Coroner has delayed the release of his findings into an Invercargill woman who drank up to 10 litres of Coca-Cola a day to allow the soft drink company to present evidence.

Natasha Harris died in February 2010.

Her partner, Chris Hodgkinson, told the inquest in April this year that she was addicted to Coca-Cola.

Coroner David Crerar says he is delaying releasing his findings to allow the company to examine the samples taken from the post-mortem.

He will also consider a report from a pathologist arranged by Coca-Cola.

The soft drink company did not present evidence at the inquest, but now wants to because it was "surprised" by the evidence of pathologist, Dr Dan Mornin, who went further than merely reading his post-mortem report.