A Pembrokeshire pensioner suffered a fatal fall when checking a faulty drain at the rear of his home, an inquest has heard.

David Leslie Davies, known as Leslie, had lived in Moylegrove all his life and had worked as a gardener around the village after retiring from working at the MoD base in Aberporth.

Assistant Pembrokeshire coroner, Gareth Lewis, heard that 91-year-old Mr Davies was in good health up into his old age.

He was married to his childhood sweetheart, and they had two daughters together.

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Last year the couple had been having problems with the drain at the back of their property. Coroner’s officer, PC Jamie Lang, said that a company had been employed to unblock it but that for some reason this had not happened.

On August 12 last year Mr Davies went to check the drain with his wife. She went back into the house and when Mr Davies did not return she rang her sister, whose house overlooked the back of her property, to ask if she could see him.

Her nephew went to check and said that he could see that Mr Davies had fallen down a manhole.

He was taken by ambulance to Glangwili hospital and diagnosed as having suffered a right subdural haematoma.

He was confused but was able to sit and 12 days later was considered to be medically fit for discharge.

However, on August 25 his condition deteriorated and he became unresponsive.

A report from the hospital gave acute subdural haematoma, mechanical fall and frailty of old age as the cause of his death.

Mr Lewis concluded that Mr Davies had died ‘as a result of head injuries sustained in an unwitnessed fall at his home address’ and recorded a finding of accidental death.

He extended his condolences to Mr Davies’ family.

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