Cow attack leaves dog walker dead and wife paralyzed after being trampled on public footpath

A man has died and his wife has been left permanently paralyzed after being attacked by cows during a lunchtime walk. Michael Holmes, 57, was pronounced dead at the scene of the attack, which left him with 35 broken ribs as well as a lacerated heart.

His wife, Teresa, was flown to hospital, where she spent six months recovering from her injuries. However, she will never walk again as her spinal cord was damaged in the incident which happened on a public footpath.

Now the farmer who was responsible for the land has appeared in court accused of health and safety breaches. Martin Mitchell admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and received a six-month suspended prison sentence after prosecutors said he failed to ensure cows with calves were properly separated from public path.

The court was told the Leeds couple, who have been married for 34 years, regularly walked the route in their lunch breaks as they worked from home during the lockdown. On the day of the attack in September 2020, they were walking their daughter’s dogs at Hollinghurst Farm in Netherton, Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

As there were signs warning dog walkers to keep their animals on a leash, they thought it would be safe to travel through the field only to be attacked. CCTV footage shows the cows ‘accelerating’ towards them.

Both were knocked to the ground, but the dogs escaped and were found by a neighbor who raised the alarm. Michael died at the scene and Teresa, who was knocked unconscious in the incident, woke up in hospital a week later and was told her husband had died.

She spent the next six months in hospital as she recovered from her injuries, which included a fractured spine, spinal cord injuries and fractured ribs. However, she was forced to take medical leave as a result of her injuries, which left her permanently in a wheelchair.

In a personal victim impact statement, Teresa said: “Having to deal with two traumas has been very difficult – the loss of Michael and his life-changing injuries. I suffered a spinal cord injury that left me paralyzed from the waist down.

“Now I have to use a wheelchair. This has transformed my life beyond anything I could have ever imagined. The course of my life and that of my late husband was thrown into great disorder by the negligence of the farmer.”

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found Mitchell had failed to ensure risks to members of the public were controlled. Speaking after the sentence, HSE inspector Sally Gay said: “Large animals can pose a risk to people. Even a light blow from a cow can result in injury.

“Seemingly docile cattle can pose a risk to walkers when they are stressed or feel threatened and may exhibit maternal instinctive or aggressive behaviour. This tragic incident could have been easily avoided if the farmer had taken basic precautions.

“Readily available HSE guidance states that where possible cows with calves should not be grazed in fields where there is a public right of way. Where this is not possible, they should be separated from the footpath by suitable fencing where it is reasonable to do so. so.”