KEY POINTS:
Police are preparing a file for the Blenheim coroner after the death of an elderly woman who nearly hanged herself when she rode her mobility scooter into a wire fence this week.
Beth Morrison, 83, a police officer's widow, died early yesterday morning after becoming entangled in a temporary two-strand fence strung between metal stakes at the Blenheim A&P showground on Monday afternoon.
Senior Sergeant John Butson, of Blenheim police, confirmed police were investigating and that the case would be referred to the Blenheim coroner.
Mrs Morrison's daughter, Marita Winstanley, told the Marlborough Express the mobility scooter rode over the bottom wire of the fence and her mother was caught under her neck on the top wire as the scooter reared up.
Peter Mackenzie, a passenger in a passing car, saw what happened, leapt the fence, pulled the scooter off the wire and called emergency services.
A St John Ambulance spokesman said Mrs Morrison was unconscious and not breathing when paramedics arrived. She was resuscitated and taken to Wairau Hospital in a serious condition.
Marlborough District Council staff erected the fence on the showground reserve to separate the Marlborough Farmers' Market site from the rest of the grounds.
Mrs Winstanley said she was sure her mother hadn't seen the fence and she was upset it was there. People had contacted her since to say it was an accident waiting to happen.
- NZPA
