Farmer, 90, found dead in manure pit changed his will that day

A 90-year-old farmer found dead in a manure pit had changed his will earlier that day, an inquest has found.

John Charles Barnett’s overturned scooter was found on the edge of a lagoon in January 2020. His body was found by a diver at Hully Farm near Whitchurch, Shropshire.

An inquest at Ruthin in Denbighshire, North Wales, heard that the pensioner had made a will in 2014, bequeathing his farm and some land to Nigel Byrne, who had worked on the dairy farm.

It was told at the hearing that Mr Barnett had revoked the will and made a new will on the day he died, leaving £20,000 to Mr Byrne and dividing the remainder of his estate between his son and daughter.

At an earlier hearing prior to the inquest, Coroner John Gittins had been asked by counsel for Mr Barnett’s family to take unlawful killing into account in his deliberations.

Mr Gittins said at the final hearing that would constitute a ‘murder event’ and that someone must be ‘guilty’ in that case.

Mr Barnett’s daughter, Jennifer Parry-Jones, told the coroner that she left her father in his chair at 6:22pm on the night of his death and went home. An hour later she had a missed call from Mr. Byrne.

Mrs Parry-Jones described the moment when she called back and said: ‘He said ‘you better get over here quickly. Your father has gone mad and he’s on his way to the lagoon.”

Mrs Parry-Jones said she believed Mr Byrne had harmed her father. Mr. Gittins asked her, “Why would Nigel harm your father?” — to which Mrs Parry-Jones replied, ‘Because my father had changed his will.’

Ms Parry-Jones said she locked a door in her father’s house and told the inquest: “There was no way Dad could get out. Only one person was present, Nigel Byrne. I think he must have unlocked the door to get Dad out.’

The inquest found that in 2012 a will had given him Mr Barnett’s interest in a farm and nearly 60 acres of farmland. The son of widower Mr. Barnett, Robert Barnett, told the coroner that the family wanted questions answered.

Mr. Gittins asked him, “Do you believe foul play was involved?” — to which Mr. Barnett replied, ‘I honestly don’t know.’

Mr. Gittins said, “Do you believe Nigel was actively involved in pitting your father?”

The farm worker replied, “I couldn’t say that. It’s awful to have to believe.’

General practitioner dr. Kieran Redman said in a statement that Mr Barnett had shared how he previously attempted suicide. But the farmer’s son said the improvement in his father’s health in 2019 was “massive”.

The coroner asked Mr Barnett’s son, Robert Barnett, who also works on the farm, whether he believed Mr Byrne had been actively involved in putting his father in the manure pit.

Mr Barnett said at the hearing: ‘It is a terrible thing to believe. Nigel had a history of abusing and threatening Dad [with] what would happen if he changed his will. There is, beneath the surface, a very intimidating part of his personality. In that light, I think it’s a possibility.’

He added that his father has had a rough few years after his wife’s death in 2017. Kieran Redman said in a statement that Mr Barnett had shared how he had previously attempted suicide. But the farmer’s son said the improvement in his father’s health in 2019 was “massive”.

Mr Barnett said: ‘As a family, this absolutely haunts us. We want the questions to be answered and at the moment we think that is far from the case.’

Mr Barnett said he was home when a local man told him his father was just minutes away in the lagoon. He said his father’s heavy scooter had tipped over on its side close to the pit. The pensioner’s body was found hours later by a police diver.

Mr Barnett claimed his late father told him he had been ‘violently abused’.

The judicial investigation continues.