Brandon death: Dog walker thought he saw woman being throttled

Egle Vengaliene's body was found at Brandon Country Park on 9 April, 2021

A dog walker who saw a husband trying to resuscitate his wife whose body was pulled from a pond said he initially thought he was throttling her, an inquest heard.

The body of Egle Vengaliene, 35, of Brandon, Suffolk, was found at Brandon Country Park on 9 April 2021.

Robert McDonald told Suffolk Coroner's Court he was walking his dogs when he heard screams and came across Andrius Vengalis trying to perform CPR.

Ms Vengaliene died from drowning.

Mr McDonald told the inquest he heard "distressed" screams when he was at the park and headed towards to the pond.

He said Mr Vengalis was positioned over Ms Vengaliene's body, which was half still in the water, and he "thought he was trying to strangle her".

"I saw a pushing down motion; it looked like he was throttling her," he said.

"But as I got closer, I could see it was not what I thought it was - he was trying to do chest compressions.

"He was holding her with his left hand and he was pressing his right hand on her chest."

Mr McDonald told the inquest that, having been trained in CPR, he could see the chest compressions were being performed incorrectly.

He said he called the emergency services, tried to help Mr Vengalis perform CPR, and went to get a defibrillator.

Paramedics arrived and, despite their efforts, mother-of-five Ms Vengaliene, who lived on Bury Road, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ms Vengaliene had asked for help at the care home at Brandon Country Park before she died, the inquest heard

It was heard that a postal worker had spotted a woman in a black and white long-sleeved T-shirt walking into the woodland in the early hours of what was described as a "cold" morning.

On Tuesday, the inquest heard Ms Vengaliene had tapped on the window of the care home at the country park, wet, cold, wearing no coat or shoes and asking for help.

Mr Vengalis had been charged with his wife's murder, but a trial was discontinued last year before it got under way and the case against him was dropped.

Ipswich Crown Court heard that a post-mortem examination concluded Ms Vengaliene had drowned.

The inquest, in Ipswich, is due to continue until 19 May.