Pensioner, 78, got stuck in mud and drowned while walking home during torrential Storm Babet rain, inquest hears
- Calvin Baxter, of Wickham Market, Suffolk, went missing on October 20 last year
A pensioner drowned in a freak accident when he became bogged down in a muddy field during torrential rain caused by a major storm system that struck the UK.
Calvin Baxter, 78, had visited a friend's home and was using a footpath which cut across two fields to walk back when he is believed to have become stuck in the thick mud caused by Storm Babet.
His body was found two days later after friends and family raised the alarm to say he had disappeared.
A coroner has now concluded that Mr Baxter probably became 'stuck' and drowned after succumbing to the severe weather conditions.
Mr Baxter went missing on October 20 last year – during the height of Storm Babet which tore across north and western Europe, including the UK which suffered heavy rainfall and high winds for days.
Calvin Baxter, 78, had visited a friend's home and was using a footpath which cut across two fields to walk back when he is believed to have become stuck in the thick mud caused by Storm Babet
A coroner has now concluded that Mr Baxter probably became 'stuck' and drowned after succumbing to the severe weather conditions. Pictured: Framlingham in Suffolk during Storm Babet
The retired electrician, of Wickham Market, Suffolk, visited a friend in the village for coffee every Friday morning but on this occasion is understood to have forgotten he couldn't be there.
Mr Baxter drove to their home as usual and, realising they were not in, started to walk home on the footpath.
The handbrake on his car was found to be jammed when his family came to collect it after his death, the inquest in Ipswich heard, which probably explains why he didn't drive home.
During the walk, he bumped into another walker, Nathan Hobbs, at about 11am.
In a statement read to the hearing, Mr Hobbs said Mr Baxter seemed 'in good spirits' and he was not overly concerned about his welfare.
This is believed to be the last time the pensioner was seen alive. His friend spotted his car when they returned home and raised the alarm when they were unable to contact him.
A search was begun by the police, before a group of walkers found Mr Baxter's body in the field off Dallinghoo Road on October 22. A post-mortem examination found he had drowned.
Locals gave evidence to the inquest on Monday about the weather conditions they experienced during Storm Babet.
While they said the fields didn't normally flood, they had on this occasion. One said she had tried to walk the same route herself but had to turn back as her wellington boots became lodged in the mud.
Recording a narrative conclusion, assistant coroner Dr Daniel Sharpstone said he believed Mr Baxter had become 'stuck' in the quagmire.
During height of Storm Babet which tore across north and western Europe, including the UK which suffered heavy rainfall and high winds for days. Pictured: People use a boat to travel down the village of Debenham, Suffolk, during storm Babet on October 20 last year
On the balance of probabilities, his death was likely to have been caused by prolonged exposure to the elements before he drowned.
Friends and family at the inquest described Mr Baxter as a king and generous man who helped others whenever he could.
He spent four years caring for his disabled mother before she passed away and then looked after his late partner when her health took a turn for the worse.
Several people died during Storm Babet, which hit the UK on October 18 and left several people dead. There was widespread flooding and travel chaos.
More than 800 homes were flooded in Suffolk alone in 60 separate incidents, as two months of rain fell in just four days.
Suffolk County Council declared a major incident – while the Met Office had only issued a yellow weather warning for the region.
A separate inquest held today also heard how company director Trevor Furniss, 66, died in Storm Babet while wading through neck-deep ‘roaring’ floodwaters to get to his dog.
The 66-year-old became ‘disorientated’ while trying to navigate the fast-moving water around his home in Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire, on October 20 last year.
He had made it to a neighbour’s property in his Land Rover but left it there and went back to the house to carry his wife and son, Oliver, back inside after they failed to negotiate the treacherous water in a Mercedes car.
Locals gave evidence to the inquest on Monday about the weather conditions they experienced during Storm Babet (photo from October 20, 2023, in Suffolk)
Mr Furniss, a trained surgeon who became involved in a number of health-related businesses, then tried to return to his car to get his German Shepherd dog.
Katie Arnold, a livery manager at a nearby farm, told the hearing in Shrewsbury how she saw him walking upstream.
‘The water was up to his chest. I saw him go under the water for a second or two,’ she said.
‘Now he was up to his neck. His coat got stuck on a branch. He was holding onto a branch, he was asking us to get help. When I turned my back he went under and he didn’t come back up.’
Neighbour Ed Brown said the dangerous conditions occurred at the confluence of three brooks, adding: ‘There was nothing anybody really could have done to alleviate a flooding of that magnitude.’
Stanford University-educated Mr Furniss’s widow, Deborah, described him as a ‘fantastic husband and dad’. The force of the floodwaters had caused damage to their home that would take two years to fix, she added.
Shropshire assistant coroner Heath Westerman recorded the death as an accident caused when Mr Furniss tried to ‘get to his car or to get to his dog’.
He said: ‘He knew the risks and he decided to take these risks. The sheer force of Storm Babet had a huge impact on the whole country but particularly our area. His death was not preventable.’
