Girl, 13, killed in quad bike accident on farm, inquest told

A 13-year-old girl killed in a quad bike accident on her family farm may have been barged by a horse, rolling the bike on top of her, an inquest has heard.

Artemis Morgan had gone on her own to put rugs on her two horses at the farm in Buckfastleigh, Devon, in April 2020.

Coroner Ian Arrow recorded a conclusion of accidental death at the inquest in Plymouth and said the exact circumstances of the girl’s death may never be known, Devon Live reported.

See also: Coronavirus: Guide to help children keep safe on farms

A post-mortem examination confirmed the cause of death was atlanto-occipital dislocation – a break in the neck.

Det Cons Susan Browne, of Devon and Cornwall Police, told the inquest that although Artemis had rugged one of the horses, the second had not been and that she believed for some “inexplicable reason” she had been fatally injured by the quad bike falling on her.

Collision investigation officer Philip Rowan-Smith said the most likely scenario was she had been barged off the quad bike while dealing with one of the horses, before the bike rolled on to her side, which then trapped her hair under a wheel.

Ian Arrow, senior coroner in Plymouth, said: “At some stage, and we will possibly sadly never know how, Artemis’s quad bike appears to have been overturned upon her and has sadly caused the neck injury and her death.”