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Tributes to garden death couple Parents 'were not electrocuted'
(about 7 hours later)
Friends and neighbours have paid tribute to an elderly couple found dead in their back garden in Cardiff. The daughter of an elderly couple found dead in their back garden lying next to an electric lawnmower says she does not believe they were electrocuted.
Albert and Beatrice Banks, both 87, were found by their son at their home in the Cyncoed area on Tuesday lying next to an electric lawnmower. Albert and Beatrice Banks, both 87, were discovered by their son Stephen at their Cardiff home on Tuesday morning.
Post-mortem examinations are due to be carried out. Their daughter Sally Smedley said she believed her mother had died after seeing her father on the lawn.
Police - investigating on behalf of the coroner - said they were not treating the deaths as suspicious, and could not confirm reports they were electrocuted. She said there was no evidence of cut wires or electrocution and nothing was certain until post-mortem examinations.
Edwin Colgan, who lived next door to the couple he knew as Monty and Margaret for 16 years, spoke of his dismay and said what happened was still a puzzle. Police have said the post-mortems will take place on Thursday.
They were very lively and young at heart and they both played golf until quite recently Anne Colgan, neighbour "Anyone involved in the scene is saying it looks as if his heart gave out because he shouldn't have been doing the lawn at his age, but that was what he was like," she said.
"He was very keen on keeping the lawn trim and the hedges cut and it was typical of him that, even at 87, he would be out there trying to cut the lawn. "Mum was there and she was found dead on top of him with her left hand on his heart."
"Whether it was an accident due to that or [it was] too much for him, we don't know, but it was fitting in a sense that that's how he should go." We feel it is nice they went together... that is what is comforting at the moment." Daughter Sally Smedley
Mr Colgan said the couple had been active, even though "their health had been failing in various ways". But he said there was a "comforting side" to the news in that "it means one of them isn't left alone". Mrs Smedley, who lives in Scotland but had planned to return to south Wales in two months to be close to her parents, said the family thought Mrs Banks was killed by the shock of seeing her husband.
It is believed that when the couple were discovered in the garden of their bungalow, they had been there since the previous evening.
Mrs Smedley said dealing with both deaths at once had been "difficult".
But she added: "We feel it is nice they went together and it's kind of sweet. That is what is comforting at the moment."
Mr and Mrs Banks, known to friends as Monty and Margaret, had enjoyed an active life despite both suffering weak hearts and other disabilities in recent years, said Mrs Smedley.
The couple, who were married for 66 years, had run an electric and vacuum cleaner repair stall in Cardiff market for more than 50 years before their retirement.
She explained that her brother had planned to cut the lawn on Sunday but was stopped by heavy rain.
'Very devoted'
"Dad was such that when the lawn needed doing, he would do it," said Mrs Smedley. "In that sense, he died happy because that was what he wanted to do."
Edwin Colgan, who lived next door to the couple for 16 years, said the pair had been active, even though "their health had been failing in various ways".
But he said there was a "comforting side" to the news in that "it means one of them isn't left alone".
Mr Colgan's wife Anne called them "a lovely couple" who were "very devoted to each other".Mr Colgan's wife Anne called them "a lovely couple" who were "very devoted to each other".
"It's terrible, I just can't come to terms with it at all," she said. South Wales Police are investigating the deaths on behalf of the coroner but have said they are not treating the deaths as suspicious.
"They were very lively and young at heart and they both played golf until quite recently and also they still attended the ballroom dancing at Llanishen."
"I used to call round sometimes on my way back from church. I looked forward to seeing them."
Neighbour Peter Collier, 75, said: "They were very kind and very helpful. I'm shocked by the news to hear they had both gone."
The bodies of the couple, who had been married for 66 years, were found on Tuesday morning and had apparently been lying outside overnight.
The ambulance service originally said they seemed to have been electrocuted, but it later withdrew that statement.