A CORONER has recorded an open verdict after a pensioner died when she suffered a head injury during an argument with a neighbour.
Wendy Doyle, of Milbank Terrace, Shotton Colliery, died in hospital two days after a row with David Briggs.
A dispute broke out between the 61-year-old and her neighbour after a car hit his van on the street where they lived.
During the incid
ent she hit her head on the side of the road and fractured her skull.
Mr Briggs was arrested for actual bodily harm, on July 7, and arrested again for manslaughter after Mrs Doyle died, on July 9. The Crown Prosecution then decided to take no further action against Mr Briggs.
Giving evidence at Bishop Auckland Magistrates' Court yesterday the 30-year-old admitted he had been in an argument.
He said he pushed Mrs Doyle's daughter Hayley, but denied assaulting the widow when she became involved in the dispute
Detective Chief Inspector Michael Nail said Durham Police were unable to establish if Mrs Doyle had been pushed or if she had simply fallen.
He sent the case to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) three times and it was repeatedly quashed for lack of evidence.
The coroner said he had considered sending the case back to the CPS, but as the inquest had brought no new evidence to light there was no point.
Verdict: Open.
The full article contains 238 words and appears in Sunderland Echo newspaper.
