Woman strangled to death when dogs pulled on leads around neck


Warehouse worker, 47, is strangled to death by leads being pulled by two dogs that had wrapped around her neck in field, inquest hears

  • Deborah Mary Roberts, 47, was discovered lying face down in grassland area
  • She had two dog leads around her neck on July 8 and was found by a young girl
  • Despite the best efforts of paramedics she was pronounced dead the scene

A warehouse worker died after being found by a young girl strangled by leads which were being pulled on by two dogs in a field, an inquest heard.

Deborah Mary Roberts, 47, was discovered lying face down in grassland with the dog leads around her neck on July 8 after a youngster raised the alarm.

An inquest heard how two men had been working on an address on Southleigh Drive in Garden Village, Wrexham, North Wales, when they were approached by a young girl.

Deborah Mary Roberts, 47 (pictured above), was found lying face-down in grassland with dog leads around her neck on July 8, 2020. An inquest into her death has heard she was strangled with the leads which were being pulled by the two dogs

She said her friend was choking and needed help so they went to a grassed area behind the street where they found Mrs Roberts.

Denbighshire County Hall was told Mrs Roberts was lying face down with dog leads around her neck which were being pulled on by two dogs.

Despite the best efforts of paramedics, Mrs Roberts, a warehouse worker from Rhosddu, Wrexham, was pronounced dead the scene.

An inquest heard how two men had been working on an address on Southleigh Drive in Garden Village (pictured) Wrexham, North Wales, when they were approached by a young girl

An inquest heard how two men had been working on an address on Southleigh Drive in Garden Village (pictured) Wrexham, North Wales, when they were approached by a young girl

John Gittins, senior coroner for North Wales East and Central, said a postmortem examination gave a provisional cause of death as asphyxia due to strangulation.

He said there was no suggestion of suspicious circumstances and adjourned the inquest to a date yet to be fixed.

The tragedy happened at a popular dog walking area near her home.

Callum Roberts wrote on Facebook: ‘My brothers and I are so overwhelmed by all the lovely comments about my mum, she really was one of a kind and we’ll miss her so much.

‘As some of you may (have) known our mum had Huntington’s disease and because of that we have chosen any donation to go towards the Huntington’s disease association, we are trying to raise as much money and awareness for this cruel disease.’

An obituary notice in a local newspaper said she was ‘the beloved wife of the late Paul (Buzby), loved, cherished and adored mum of Dan, Cal, Jamie and Jack. She is much loved and will always be remembered.’