Dog walker's wife may have heard him calling to her before dying in Storm Bert, inquest hears

The wife of a retired teacher who died in the flooded River Conwy during Storm Bert may have heard him calling to her, an inquest has heard.

A major search was launched when 75-year-old Brian Perry was reported missing after taking his Collie dog for a walk at the village of Trefriw, near Llanrwst, during Storm Bert on November 23.

At the opening of an inquest at Ruthin, John Gittins, senior coroner for North Wales East and Central, said he had been informed by North Wales Police that Mr Perry and his wife Catherine set out together but he then went on alone with the dog.

He knew the area well and was wearing waterproof clothing.

Mr Gittins said Mrs Perry spoke to her husband on the phone but raised the alarm around 20 minutes later when she no longer had a reply.

"She said she may have heard him shouting," the coroner said.

Coastguards, police, the fire and rescue service, and Ogwen Valley mountain rescue team volunteers scoured the area until 9pm and then resumed the search the following morning.

Mr Perry’s body was found later that day on 24 November by the police underwater search team in Gower Road, Trefriw, where the water had been chest-high.

Pathologist Dr Mark Atkinson gave the provisional cause of death as drowning.

The inquest was adjourned to a date to be fixed.

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