Terrible loss of grandmother Carmel Nettlefold ‘keenly felt by all who loved her’

A HOBART coroner has acknowledged the pain and suffering a Tasmanian family has experienced since the sudden and violent death of matriarch Carmel Nettlefold.

a photo of Carmel Nettlefold taken in 2013. Picture: SUPPLIED

A HOBART coroner has acknowledged the pain and suffering a Tasmanian family has experienced since the sudden and violent death of matriarch Carmel Nettlefold.

In delivering his findings today into 71-year-old Mrs Nettlefold’s death, Coroner Simon Cooper found that Ms Nettlefold died in the Royal Hobart Hospital on October 8, 2014, after being pushed onto a New Town street four days earlier by Robert Frederick Bowden.

Mr Cooper said Mrs Nettlefold suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of the fall.

He noted that Bowden had since pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter in the Supreme Court and was serving a maximum eight-year prison sentence.

MORE: BOWDEN JAILED FOR RANDOM KILLING

During a coronial inquest held earlier this month, Mrs Nettlefold’s daughter-in-law Elly Audet described a loving grandmother who had moved to Tasmania to be with her extended family after the death of her only son — and Ms Audet’s husband — Lenny.

MORE: FAMILY TELLS OF TRAUMATIC LOSS

Ms Audet told the inquest that her four children had not only been robbed of a grandmother who used to cook, dance and read with them, but had also lost their last remaining connection to their father.

“It is quite apparent that the terrible loss of Mrs Nettlefold is very keenly felt by all who loved her,” Mr Cooper said.

Mr Copper said the circumstances of Mrs Nettlefold’s death were not such as to require him to make any recommendation pursuant to section 28 of the Coroners Act.