Criccieth man died after getting stuck in mud, inquest told

A 92-year-old man died of hypothermia after he was unable to save himself from deep mud in a field.

William Morris Jones, from Rhoslan near Criccieth, Gwynedd was reported missing on 28 December 2024.

The retired groundkeeper had failed to return home from a shopping trip to Caernarfon.

He was found late the next day by police “up to his knees” in mud in a waterlogged field he often used as a short cut from a bus stop.

Witnesses had seen Mr Jones get off a bus at Rhoslan that afternoon and a police search launch.

Officers with torches found Mr Jones’s body on the ground in the field with a rucksack next to him.

A post-mortem examination revealed he had mud up to his knees and on his hands and face, but no other injuries. Further tests revealed he also had bronchial pnuemonia.

Given the overnight temperature was about 3C (37F), pathologist Dr Muhammad Zain Mehdi gave the cause of death as pneumonia and hypothermia.

Senior Coroner for North West Wales, Kate Robertson, said it seemed on basis of the evidence that Mr Jones became stuck in the mud and was unable to “self-recover and save himself”.

A conclusion of accidental death was entered.