Diner choked to death on steak

A PENSIONER choked to death on a steak while celebrating his 57th wedding anniversary, an inquest heard.

Michael Pitts, 84, was dining with wife Joan, 78, at a restaurant near their home when the meat became lodged in his throat.

Moments earlier Mr Pitts had joked to a waiter at the Grapevine Bistro in Odiham, Hants, that his ribeye steak was “a bit chewy” but said it was “probably just the cow”.

Mrs Pitts told how she became concerned after her husband suddenly started coughing. She said: “I told him to have a glass of water and with that his arms went down and he just fell backwards into his chair.”

Staff attempted to resuscitate Mr Pitts and put him in the recovery position while waiting for paramedics. But he died shortly after arriving at North Hampshire Hospital.

Basingstoke coroner Andrew Bradley recorded a verdict of death by misadventure and said the cause of death was asphyxia contributed to by heart disease and old age.