Murder of author rocks Prince Charles’s ‘perfect English village’
AN ITALIAN farm worker is being quizzed by police over the death of a ‘wonderful’ animal-loving volunteer whose body was found in a bull pen.
Katherine Bevan, 53, a veterinary pharmacist and author, was found on January 3 at an Arabian horse farm in a Devon beauty spot once described by Prince Charles as his ‘ideal English village’.
Her death was initially believed to have been an accident and was reported to the Health and Safety Executive. But after a postmortem examination at the weekend, police launched a murder inquiry and arrested a 26-year-old man.
Mrs Bevan began volunteering at Combe Farm in Gittisham five years ago, and recently released a book called Knowing Daisy: A True Story, which chronicles her relationship with calves Daisy and Dandelion, which were both rescued and taken to the farm.
It was initially feared she had accidentally been crushed while tending to a bull called Jumbo in the stock pen.
Mrs Bevan worked as a veterinary pharmacist for the Vale Veterinary Group as well as on the farm. Michael Harris, who runs Combe Farm, described her as a ‘lovely, wonderful person’.
He added: ‘It is just awful. Kate has been a friend and helping up here for the last five years. She started living here about a year ago. She was part of our family and she sat with us for dinner every night.
‘She was the last person in the world who anyone could do this to.’
Mr Harris said the arrest of the Italian man – who is one of the live-in volunteers and backpackers who work at the farm – was ‘a complete shock’. He added: ‘There was nothing about the arrested man that ever suggested he was a danger to anyone.
‘Her body was found in the bull pen. But that does not mean she died in the bull pen. I did always feel there was something odd about that explanation. Jumbo has never caused any trouble to my workers.’
A police spokesman said: ‘A 26-year-old local man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. He remains in police custody.’
‘She was a lovely, wonderful person’