Woman, 29, trampled to death by cow sent mum picture of livestock before tragedy

Police initially thought the woman may had been attacked by another person

A woman who was killed after being trampled on by a cow while out walking her dog sent her mum a picture of the livestock shortly before the tragedy, an inquest has heard. Becki Morris was declared dead at the scene of the incident in Littlethorpe, near Narborough, in July 2022.

Toxicology reports revealed that the 29-year-old had levels of alcohol above the drink-driving limit in her system, along with codeine and anti-depressant medication. The inquest, which began today (Monday, October 14) at Leicester Town Hall, heard from pathologist Dr Michael Biggs who suggested that the alcohol and medication could have had a "cumulative effect" on Becki.

Initially, Leicestershire Police treated Becki's death as a potential assault by another individual. However, they soon determined that she had been fatally injured by livestock in the field off Riverside Way.

The court heard how late on Saturday, July 9, 2022, Becki had set off with her dog, sending her mother a picture at 9pm showing cattle in a field with the caption "Cows". When her family became worried later, they recognised the field from her photo and found her severely injured.

An ambulance crew arrived at 10.50pm and discovered that Becki's heart had stopped. She was subsequently pronounced dead, reports Leicestershire Live.

Due to concerns that Becki, who had worked in a Narborough card shop, had been attacked, police officers at the scene instructed the paramedics to leave the body exactly as it was - without removing their equipment.

Paramedics were later informed that the incident was being treated as an animal attack, and they packed up their equipment and left the scene around 2am on Sunday, July 10. Dr Biggs revealed in his post-mortem examination that Becki's blood contained 112 microgrammes of alcohol per 100ml, compared to the legal drink-driving limit of 80 microgrammes.

He clarified that Becki had not been driving. He also noted that she had taken codeine and the anti-depressant sertraline, which could have affected her cognition along with the alcohol.

"They can have a cumulative effect," he said. "They may have been affecting her thinking process, her reaction time et cetera. But any effect would have been mild given the levels were not excessive."

Dr Biggs added that people taking sertraline are advised against consuming alcohol, but the potential risks are not as severe as they can be with other medications.

The pathologist also discovered "multiple recent blunt-force trauma" injuries on Becki's torso and neck. The fatal injury was a trampling wound that caused a laceration to her liver, leading to deadly internal bleeding.

When asked about the number of cows that might have inflicted the injuries, he said: "I would favour this being a relatively brief incident with perhaps only one cow, rather than a whole herd."

He added there was "absolutely nothing to support" the idea of another person causing the injuries.

A woman who lived close by gave a statement to the jury about the tragic scene she witnessed before paramedics arrived. She described finding the local farmer performing CPR on Becki, with her distraught parents also present.

"Rebekah's mum was stroking her head, saying 'wake up, please don't leave me'. I could see Rebekah laying on the floor completely still. When I touched her she was very cold. I held her hand and stroked her face. It was apparent to me she had passed away," she recounted. The mother of the deceased had mentioned to her a photo sent by Becki showing "cattle and calves in a field" and that Becki had requested "more beer and something to eat".

The inquest, presided over by Coroner Isobel Thistlethwaite, is set to continue for approximately five days with testimonies from various witnesses including the cattle owner, a Health and Safety Executive officer, and the lead detective. The coroner told the jury: "Nobody is on trial. There's no attribution of blame. The inquest is solely about establishing who died, when they died, where and how. The last question - how she came about her death - is the most important one."