A 72-year-old man died after being charged by cows, flipped into the air, trampled and kicked in the head, an inquest has heard.
The jury was told Malcolm Flynn, a retired teacher from Carlisle, was fatally attacked in a field during a walk with his friend along Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland on 11 September 2020.
His fellow rambler Christopher Barkless told a hearing in Morpeth, Northumberland, that they were charged by cattle who were protecting their calves.
Mr Barkless told the inquest he climbed a tree to escape and called the emergency services but his friend could not be saved and died from chest injuries.
It happened while walking along the Pennine Way – part of which follows Hadrian’s Wall – in a field at Thirlwall Castle Farm near Gilsland, close to the border with Cumbria.
A white box shows where Mr Flynn was killed near Gilsland. Pic: Northumbria Police/Google
Assistant Coroner Kirsten Mercer told the inquest there was a sign warning walkers about the cows and calves in the field and how they could be “unpredictable”.
Mr Flynn, a father-of-two, was a member of the Ramblers’ Association, regularly walked with Mr Barkless, and they were completing the Hadrian’s Wall route in sections, the hearing was told.
Jurors also heard Mr Flynn had developed glaucoma which affected his eyesight and was troubled by arthritic pain in his foot.
Mr Barkless said they had set off from Gilsland that morning and after entering a field, he noticed four cows and their calves blocking the path, so he changed course.
He told the inquest: “I was not comfortable with that situation, they were not behaving in a manner that I would expect.
“If you look in a cow’s eyes it will normally look away, it won’t stare you out. If it looks away, it will normally disperse. These cows were different.
“They didn’t demonstrate any intention of being fazed by the presence of two human beings, in fact they came forward to confront us.”
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Mr Barkless said the cattle moved quickly towards them and, while he managed to run away, a cow charged into Mr Flynn knocking him to the ground, then flipping him up in the air.
As he lay injured on the ground Mr Flynn was trampled and kicked in the face, Mr Barkless told jurors.
Mr Barkless said he managed to climb a tree and rang 999. The arrival of an air ambulance, some 30 minutes after the first attack, caused the cows to disperse in fright allowing him and other walkers to try to help.
The inquest heard the medics could not save him and he died at the scene.
In a statement read to the hearing, Mr Flynn’s elder daughter Julia Proud said her father loved walking and the countryside.
“The tragedy that happened is a bitter pill to swallow as it is something he had done so many times before and enjoyed,” she wrote.
The coroner was told the five-day inquest would consider a previous incident involving cows at the farm almost exactly a year before, where two walkers were injured.
The inquest continues.
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