The death of a woman "pinned down and struck" by a pregnant cow might have been avoided if she had approached the animal differently, a sheriff has ruled.

Patricia Wishart, 62, was working on the croft she ran with her husband on Shetland when she entered a pen by ducking through two horizontal scaffolding poles to check on a cow.

A fatal accident inquiry into her death found she startled the cow by entering the pen head on, which the animal would have "interpreted as a threat".

The animal lost its footing and landed partially through the poles, pinning her to the lower one, then kicked her repeatedly as it struggled to stand.

In a report, Sheriff Philip Mann said her death "might have been avoided" if she had gone in the side door - approaching the cow from the side or rear and lessening the startle risk.

Mrs Wishart's husband witnessed his wife's accident and battled to save her life.

He beat the cow away, pulled his wife from the pen into an open space in the byre and started cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

He brought her round twice before she died from injuries in his presence.

He was "too upset" to give evidence in person to the inquiry at Lerwick Sheriff Court and did so through a police statement recorded after the accident, which happened at Mid Town, East Houlland, Bixter, at about 6.30pm on March 6, 2015.

Sheriff Mann's inquiry findings, published on Tuesday, said "farming is an inherently dangerous industry".

He said further contributory factors to the accident were the tethering arrangement which allowed the cow too much movement and the pen construction enabling the the cow to move through the railings.

He added: "It is very easy to counsel perfection after the event and, with the benefit of hindsight, to point out errors of judgment and deficiencies in working practices that are not necessarily at all obvious to those who are engaged in the industry as a way of life.

"It is testament to the care taken by Mrs Wishart and her husband in the running of their crofting business that they were engaged in it together for many years without major incident.

"It is tragic that their long and harmonious personal and working life together has been brought to an end in such a sudden and unforeseen way by an accident the likes of which could, but for the grace of God, strike at anyone at any time in this particular industry.

"All that we can hope for is that any publicity given to this case will encourage farmers and crofters to pay attention to the published advice of the Health and Safety Executive and the National Farmers Union who, I am told, in the week when this inquiry took place launched a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers which exist in the industry."

He passed on the condolences of the court to Mr Wishart and his family for their "tragic loss".