A TRAGIC accident caused a Wrexham mum-of-four to become strangled to death by a pair of dog leads.

The inquest was resumed at Denbighshire County Hall into the death of warehouse worker Deborah Roberts, who was found lying face down in grassland earlier this summer with the dog leads around her neck.

Assistant coroner of North Wales east and central David Pojur said that, on July 8, Deborah's niece raised the alarm with two nearby workmen about the 47-year-old’s situation.

Ms Roberts, who lived on Ffordd Mon in Rhosddu, had become tangled in the leashes on Southleigh Drive whilst walking her two Staffordshire Bull Terriers that then began pulling on them.

The inquest was told how she had been suffering from Huntington's Disease, a condition which had led to her mobility being unsteady, and is likely what saw her trip.

It is thought that Ms Roberts had fallen down whilst on the walk and the dogs - Tyson and Ruby - and one of the workmen who tried to save Ms Roberts thought the dogs were trying to get their owner up after the fall, unaware that they were strangling her in the process.

The coroner says that, despite their best efforts, paramedics pronounced Ms Roberts dead the scene.

Attending the inquest was her son Callum who said the dogs were "loving and caring" pets of the family.

Another son, Robert, said they were "beautiful dogs" that were just "very scared".

The coroner agreed with this after a statement from the workmen who came to help recalls how the dogs were found whimpering - each with a leash in their mouths - by Ms Roberts as she lay lifeless in the grassy area.

The leads were made of rope, the coroner said, which would hook onto a harness. It was said that Ms Roberts would usually put the lead over her head as the animals walked off leash to save them from "flapping around".

The dogs have no history of pulling on the leash, her son's statement given at the inquest says.

It was ruled that Ms Roberts' death was asphyxiation caused by strangulation and the coroner gave a verdict of accidental death, labelling the incident as "a tragic accident".