AN 88-YEAR-OLD Stroud woman with dementia wandered away from her retirement home and drowned in a pond on the estate where she lived, an inquest heard.

Beryl Hubbard of Millbrook Walk, Woodchester Valley Village, Stroud, was spotted floating in the pond on October 4 this year by a fellow resident, the inquest heard.

Her body was discovered close to the Crystal Fountain Retirement Village at Inchbrook.

The resident was walking across the estate when he saw something in the pond, Gloucestershire Coroner’s Court was told.

“He spoke to the manageress Susie Curnock and they rang the emergency services,” said the assistant coroner for Gloucestershire Roland Wooderson.

“Previously Mrs Hubbard had wandered off and had been found in some bushes in the grounds of the estate.”

The inquest heard that Mrs Hubbard’s dementia had been worsening and it had been suggested that she should move to a more supported environment but she did not want to move to another property.

Said the coroner: “This lady was happy enough in her retirement village but she had a lot of health problems and her eyesight was poor.”

The coroner recorded a conclusion of accidental death.