Tributes have flooded in for a "lovely dad" who died following a storm.
Donald Hamilton Baxter, known as Don, was walking his dog Taz in Black Woods, Woolton on Tuesday, February 11, 2020 during storm Ciara. A high and "extremely large" branch broke from a beech tree and fell during the high winds of the storm, an inquest was told on Monday.
The 67-year-old couldn't move as he was trapped underneath the branch. Mr Baxter was pronounced dead at the scene and his dog Taz stayed with him loyally throughout.
READ MORE: Tributes to woman, 62, found dead in flat
Since the ECHO previously published the inquest into Mr Baxter's death, dozens of tributes have flooded in for retired housing manager. Writing on the ECHO's Facebook page, Susan Smith said: "So sorry for the loss of a loved one. The poor dog must have been so sad."
Theresa Rogers added: "Thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends." Bekki Thompson also said: "He was such a lovely man x." Rosemary Julia Hughes said: "So sad my thoughts are with all his family what a wonderful dog staying with him."
Faye Sunter added: "Dogs are mans best friend until the end." Barbara Taylor also said: "Such a sad story bless all involved, best friend you can ever had is your dog."
A tree specialist who conducted a report and visited the site the following day (February 12) said large gusts of wind from Storm Ciara were likely to have caused the fall. A witness heard a large crack after 10.30am and said Mr Baxter, 67, was trapped and couldn’t move.
The witness flagged down a bus driver who phoned emergency services but Mr Baxter was pronounced dead at the scene at 11.08am. The tree specialist said the beech tree had a codominant stem which led to decay and a soil build-up between the two branches.
He said a gust of wind moving at around 55mph was likely to be the main factor in causing the branch, which weighed between 2.5 and 2.7 tons but was the smaller of the two, to fall. The remaining part of the tree stood at 26 metres high.
There were also other small defects including a hole near the bottom of the tree. The tree specialist said an inspection regime at the time by the council was adequate.
A zoning exercise, which allocated trees to zones ranging from red risk (high) to green (low) was carried out and the beech tree was put down as in an amber zone (medium risk). The specialist said this was appropriate.
The Black Woods were closed to the public after Mr Baxter’s death. Mr Baxter was born on December 17, 1952 in Liverpool. He went to Woolton Primary School and West Derby Comprehensive.
The inquest continues.
