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Woman sent mother photo of cattle moments before she was ‘trampled to death’ by cow, inquest hears

Rebekah Morris had been walking her dog in Littlethorpe, Leicestershire when she died in 2022 

Jabed Ahmed
Tuesday 15 October 2024 03:18 EDT
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The 29-year-old sent the image with the word ‘cows’ to her mother during her walk
The 29-year-old sent the image with the word ‘cows’ to her mother during her walk (Family handout/PA Wire)

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A woman sent her mother a picture of cattle moments before she was trampled to death by a cow in the same field, an inquest has heard.

Rebekah Morris had been walking her dog in Littlethorpe, Leicestershire, on the 9 July 2022 when the incident happened.

The 29-year-old, known as Becki to her friends and family, sent the image with the word “cows” to her mother during her walk, at just before 9pm, a jury inquest at Leicester Coroner’s Court heard.

The inquest was told Ms Morris stopped responding to text messages, which prompted her parents to search for her in the field shown in the photo, where they found her injured.

She went into cardiac arrest and, despite efforts by paramedics, she was pronounced dead at 11.21pm.

Forensic pathologist Dr Michael Biggs, who carried out Ms Morris’s post-mortem examination, told the jury her injuries were “consistent with hoof marks from a trampling incident”.

He told the court she had suffered blunt force traumatic injuries and abrasions to her upper chest and left shoulder.

Rebekah Morris with her chihuahua Zero
Rebekah Morris with her chihuahua Zero (Family handout/PA Wire)

There was extensive damage to the liver, which led to severe internal bleeding. That’s the main reason why Becki died,” he said.

He added that the number of injuries was “not so large” that he believed the whole herd had been involved, and instead thought it was a “relatively brief incident involving one cow”.

Dr Biggs said there was “enough of a suspicion” to do a forensic post-mortem examination to “rule out” the involvement of a person.

“There were no other injuries to suggest the involvement of another person,” he said. “All injuries were consistent with a livestock trampling incident.

“The type and location of the injuries in this case, for me, were indicative of something else, such as a large, heavy creature – such as a cow.”

There were traces of alcohol and medications in Ms Morris’s blood at the time, but these were “not a dangerous combination”, Dr Biggs told the inquest.

The inquest, which is expected to last five days, continues.

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