The death of a woman attacked by a pregnant cow at her Shetland farm could have been avoided if safety procedures had been followed, a sheriff has ruled.
Patricia Wishart entered the pen of the heavily pregnant animal at her croft near Bixter when it fell on top of her and kicked her several times.
Her husband Robert frantically beat the animal off her and hauled her to safety, but after initially telling him she was alright, Mrs Wishart, 62, passed out and went limp.
Mr Wishart started CPR and Mrs Wishart briefly came round before falling unconscious again and she died at the scene of chest and abdominal injuries.
A fatal accident inquiry into her death, in March last year, was held at Lerwick Sheriff Court earlier this month.
Sheriff Philip Mann has concluded that the death could have been prevented if the cow’s pen was more robustly secured.
The inquiry heard from Health and Safety Executive inspector Christopher Copeman who inspected the pen some days after the accident. The penning arrangements at the croft, while standard for a small farm, were not what the HSE would recommend, he said.
The scaffolding bars were too widely spaced at the front of the pen, allowing the cow to get not just its head, but legs and body through the gap.
The animal’s chain tether was also too long, giving it too much scope for movement. And the pen arrangement meant the enclosure had to be entered at the cow’s head end, something that was likely to startle the animal and make it defensive, especially if it was pregnant.
Mother-of-two Mrs Wishart and her husband had been successfully crofting for 40 years on Shetland before the accident. The tragedy has featured in an NFU campaign to highlight dangers within the agriculture industry.
Sheriff Mann added: “Farming is an inherently dangerous industry. It is testament to the care taken by Mrs Wishart and her husband in the running of their crofting business that they were engaged in it together for many years without major incident.
“It is tragic that their long and harmonious personal and working life together has been brought to an end in such a sudden and unforeseen way by an accident the likes of which could, but for the grace of God, strike at anyone at any time in this particular industry.”