AN INQUEST has been opened into the death of an 87-year-old woman who died in an incident in which a man has been charged with murder.

The inquest heard Elsie Mowbray was at her Victoria Court home, off Leeman Road, on New Year’s Day when a man broke in.

The inquest heard her son arrived at her home while the intruder was still there, and Mrs Mowbray evidently fell, hitting her head on the wall.

Coroner Donald Coverdale said Mrs Mowbray was treated and released from York Hospital and “appeared to be well”, but when her son visited her home the day after she was released, he found her collapsed on the kitchen floor, “awake but confused”.

Mrs Mowbray was readmitted to hospital, where she died on January 8. A preliminary cause of death was listed as “acute subdural haemorrhage due to blunt head injury”.

The inquest was adjourned to a later date.

Peter Anthony John Harris, 33, has been charged with Mrs Mowbray’s murder.