Cows in field where woman died ‘are easy-going’, inquest hears

Cows in a field where a woman was trampled to death were “easy-going” and would usually move away from people, an inquest has heard.

Rebekah Morris, known as Becki, died with injuries “consistent with hoof marks” on the evening of 9 July 2022, when she was walking her dog in a field near Littlethorpe, Leicestershire.

A jury inquest at Leicester Town Hall has heard the 29-year-old Sent a photo of the cattle to her mother just before 21:00 BST.

When she did not respond to further text messages, her parents went to look for her in the field, shown in the image, where they found her fatally injured.

Despite attempts to save her life, Ms Morris went into cardiac arrest and died at 23:21.

On Tuesday, the inquest heard that warning signs had been put up by farmer Don Hutton, who owned the Warwick Bridge Farm at the time, to make dog walkers aware of the livestock in the field.

The court was told the public footpath was marked by “yellow posts”, or waymarkers, which followed the boundary of the field, off Riverside Way.

Guy Hutton, the farm owner’s son, said Ms Morris was found lying injured far away from the designated footpath, and he assisted with efforts to save her.

He said he did not own the cattle, but that there were either 17 or 18 cows and one calf in the field at the time.

He told the inquest that his 79-year-old father, who has since sold the farm, “has been very upset about the incident ever since”.

Guy said his father would generally get rid of animals that were “snappy or nasty” and that the cows in the field had “always acted in a docile manner”.

“I have never known the cattle to stampede,” he said.

“The closest I have seen them is when they are released on to grass and they frolic.

“I have always known these cattle – they are easy-going and I have no concern about their temperament. Lots of people use the footpath.”

Guy said he did not see the cows “herding or stampeding” on the day of Ms Morris’s death while tending to his flock of sheep in a nearby field.

Dr Michael Biggs, a forensic pathologist who completed Ms Morris’s post-mortem examination, told the inquest on Monday that her injuries indicated that it was a “relatively brief incident involving one cow”.

The inquest continues.