Gardener fell from ladder and drowned in water butt

A gardener drowned after he fell from a step-ladder and landed head first in a barrel full of water, an inquest heard yesterday.

The body of Arthur Sexton, 80, a retired printer, was found in a 4ft-deep water butt by a neighbour in Fleet, Lincolnshire, on 11 March this year.

The coroner, Maureen Taylor, told Spalding Coroners' Court that the cause of death was drowning, and recorded a verdict of accidental death.