Forest Row dog walker trampled to death by cows, inquest hears

A retired lecturer died along with one of his dogs when they were crushed by a herd of cows, an inquest heard.

John McNamara's body was found surrounded by cattle near Forest Row, East Sussex, on 8 October 2018.

The inquest heard the cows may have felt protective of their calves, as Mr McNamara and his three dogs used a public footpath through a field.

An inquest jury returned a conclusion of accidental death.

The inquest, held in Hastings, heard from Mr McNamara's widow, Alison Read, who said she would have gone dog walking with him but had work to do.

She said their dogs were all scared of cows, and Mr McNamara, 67, knew not to come between a cow and its calf, and had often used the same footpath.

She believed her husband had gone back for their elderly dog after lifting their other two dogs over a stile.

When her husband failed to return home Mrs McNamara went to look for him but was met by a coroner's officer and saw her husband's body.

A post-mortem examination found he died of severe crush injuries.

Both Mr McNamara and his fatally-injured dog were covered in mud as if they had been trampled, according to the coroner's officer.

Farm manager Robin Brown told the inquest he would not have expected the Sussex cows to react aggressively to someone using the footpath, although they would try to intimidate farm workers handling their calves or if approached by a dog.

East Sussex coroner Alan Craze described Mr McNamara's death as "a complete tragedy".

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