Outdoor-loving couple found dead at the bottom of cliffs after they may have tripped or slipped on walk, inquest hears
AN ELDERLY couple who were found dead at the bottom of sheer cliffs may have tripped on their coastal walk, an inquest heard.
John and Imogen Kesteven were on a coach tour in North when they were discovered after failing to return to their hotel in September last year.
The hearing at Coroner's Court heard yesterday that the pair may have slipped or tripped while walking the path along the cliffs in Lynton, Devon.
John, 81, and Imogen, 80, were found by a helicopter two days after they were last seen at the nearby Valley of the Rocks Hotel.
Their daughter, Juliet Grey, told the court: "They were very outdoors orientated people who were young for their ages."
She added that they may have been walking arm in arm or holding hands as they were devoted to one another.
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The couple had been about to celebrate 58 years of marriage.
Juliet added that her mother suffered with short term memory loss and her father's knee sometimes collapsed, making him unsteady.
Both also apparently had balance issues and had previously undergone hip replacement surgery.
The distraught daughter speculated that they may have gone off the path to look for plant cuttings before falling.
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Detective Sergeant Ben Cartwright of Devon and Police told the coroner that a green scarf had been found close to the edge of the path, below which the couple were found.
He added that some green leaves from a Rhododendron, which grew along the pathway, were found in Imogen's handbag.
John also had a bramble bush with its root ball wrapped around his body which appeared to have been pulled from the cliff as he tried to stop his fall.
DS Cartwright said: "They went for a recreational walk. It's an unfortunate and very tragic accident."
Senior Devon Coroner Philip Spinney recorded that the couple, from Greenford, West , died from injuries sustained in their fall.
He told their children: "To lose both your parents must be very difficult to bear."