Jen Higgins, 49, was killed at the scene at 7:40 PM on August 20, 2025, with her cause of death determined as multiple traumatic chest injuries from blunt force trauma. Her husband Gawen Higgins was injured with bruising and scratches, and an off-duty nurse performed CPR on Jen Higgins before emergency services arrived. The branch fell from a beech tree located on Barlow Moor Road near the Stanton Avenue junction in Manchester.
The tree was on privately owned land and had fungal decay, and it had not been pruned for at least 15 years. Noel Nugent, a senior arboricultural officer at Manchester council, stated that the decay of the branch would not have been visible before its fall. Landowner Karim Manssour-Dahbi said a general survey when he bought the property in 2020 did not highlight any issues with the trees, and he hired a tree surgeon to trim leaves four to five months after moving in because a shadow was preventing grass growth.
After Jen Higgins' death, Karim Manssour-Dahbi was ordered to have the remainder of the tree cut, leaving only the trunk. There was no Tree Preservation Order, and the tree was not in a conservation area. Assistant coroner Jennifer Swift concluded the death was accidental and that tree owners are not required to inspect for decay.