Cows in field where woman died were ‘easygoing’, inquest told

Cows in a field where an inquest has heard a woman was trampled to death were “easygoing” and would usually move away from people, jurors have been told.

Rebekah Morris, 29, known as Becki, died with injuries “consistent with hoof marks” on the evening of July 9 2022 while she was walking her dog, a chihuahua called Zero, in a field near Littlethorpe, Leicestershire.

She sent a photo of the cattle to her mother just before 9pm, but 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 injured.

Despite attempts to save her life, Ms Morris went into cardiac arrest and died at 11.21pm.

A jury inquest at Leicester Coroner’s Court on Tuesday heard that warning signs had been put up by farmer Don Hutton, who owned the Warwick Bridge Farm at the time of the incident, to make dog walkers aware of the livestock in the field.

The court was told that 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.

Guy Hutton attended the scene of the incident as he was leaving the farm that evening and assisted with efforts to save Ms Morris.

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 Hutton 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 onto grass and they frolic.

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

“They would usually move away from people. My first thought was that a human being caused her harm,” he added.

Guy Hutton said he did not see the cows “herding or stampeding” on the day of the incident while tending to his flock of sheep in a nearby field.

He added that it was unlikely Ms Morris was trampled by a herd of cows because she was “too clean” when she was found injured and that cattle were “very sweaty and dirty”.

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

The inquest continues.