Widow, 90, found frozen to death in garden

A WIDOW aged 90 was found by her neighbours frozen to death after falling over in her snow-covered garden during the worst of this week’s freezing weather.

A post-mortem examination carried out on Mary Priestland, who lived in a complex of old people’s bungalows in King Street, Goldthorpe, near Barnsley, confirmed the cause of death as hypothermia.

Police believe Mrs Priestland may have been confused, left her house, lost her footing in the heavy snow and was unable to make her way back inside.

Her body was discovered by next-door neighbour, retired miner Colin Stables, 71, who had visited Mrs Priestland, along with her elderly brother-in-law Thomas Pape just a few hours before her death.

Mrs Priestland, whose daughter lives in Bristol and granddaughter lives in Sheffield, had tapped on the adjoining wall between their homes to alert her neighbour she needed help.

Mr Stables, who acts as a carer for his wife Betty said: “I told Mrs Priestland that any time she needed help she just had to tap on the wall.

“I heard a knock on the wall on Monday evening about 8.20pm so I went out and went down to tell Mr Pape, who lives a few doors away, and we went to the bungalow together.

“She was a bit confused but we sat her down, made her a cup of tea and she seemed to be her old self again.

“When we left a bit later she was fine, her heating was on and she was comfortable.

“But on Tuesday morning another neighbour knocked on my door and told me he was going to the newsagents and saw Mrs Priestland laying in the snow outside our bungalows and she was not moving.

“By the time I got dressed and went outside the police had arrived and they covered her with a sheet. She was obviously dead.”

An inquest into Mrs Priestland's death was opened and adjourned to a date to be fixed.