A REQUEST for more forensic evidence from police has seen the inquest of a 90-year-old Whitchurch man who died in a slurry pit halted for more than a week.

John Charles Barnett, known as Charlie, and of Hully Farm, Tybroughton, Whitchurch, was last seen at 6.25pm on January 2, 2020, before his body was discovered by divers near his home.

Joseph Hart, a barrister representing Mr Barnett family, including son Robert Barnett and daughter Jennifer Parry-Jones, asked for the adjournment for North Wales Police to provide a more in-depth report from crime scene investigators after taking evidence from Robert and Joe Millington.

The father and son were close neighbours of the deceased and had been involved in the search for the 90-year-old man after they had received a call from a 'distressed' Nigel Byrne, an employee of the farm.

At the inquest in Ruthin on Thursday, November 1, the pair told Mr Hart that the 90-year-old's mobility scooter was in fact on the lagoon – what they called the slurry pit – and not on a side track as first thought.

This led to a request from Mr Hart to adjourn proceedings in order to ascertain whether than information could be obtained from police, which John Gittins, senior coroner for North Wales (East and Central) established could be done with 36 hours.

Earlier in the inquest, Mr Barnett and his sister Mrs Parry-Jones both gave evidence stating – after questioning from Mr Gittins – that they believed, albeit reluctantly, that Mr Byrne had caused their father harm, which he had denied to police.

On the day of his death, Mr Barnett had been taken to Chester by his children, plus son-in-law Mervyn Parry-Jones, to change his will in order to leave his estate to them, as well as £20,000 to Mr Byrne, who had previously been set to inherit the farm.

OTHER NEWS:

But they, nor their father, did not inform Mr Byrne of this as, according to them both, there had been a previous incident in 2017 when the employee threatened their father over any change to the will.

Mr Barnett said: “In light of that I thought it was a possibility but I’m hesitant to consider deliberate intent, more possible that he frightened dad and he tried to escape.”

He also said that while his father had expressed some suicidal thoughts after their mother had died, he said he had been 'in great form', which was supported by Dr Kieran Redmond, from Hanmer Surgery, who assessed Mr Barnett's mental capacity ahead of the will change.

Mrs Parry-Jones said that when she and her husband had returned to Hully Farm after Chester, they fed her father and then ensured that she had locked him into his living area, as per his request and her routine.

Mr Gittins asked her why she did this and Mrs Parry-Jones replied that she did it routinely and was for his security, which the coroner rejected and suggested that it was stop him wandering.

Mrs Parry-Jones then said she noticed Mr Byrne was still onsite, which was unusual to be after 6pm, and asked her brother to check in while she returned to her St Asaph home.

Mr Gittins asked her if she felt that Mr Byrne had caused her father harm and she said yes.

She added: "I don’t want to think it but there was only one person there and that was Nigel Byrne.

"He must have unlocked that door. I locked the door, there was no way he was going anywhere.”

She also denied, when asked, that she had caused her father any harm.

Other evidence taken on the day included Mr Parry-Jones, as well as Millington Senior and Junior, with the latter telling Mr Hart that there were a number of tracks belonging to Mr Barnett's mobility scooter near the lagoon.

Earlier in the day, the inquest was delayed while a request for an an adjournment for police to reopen an investigation, which Mr Gittins denied.

Mr Gittins adjourned the inquest until Monday, December 12 where Mr Byrne is expected to give evidence.