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Ms Easton, 68, taught chemistry at Titus Salt School in Baildon, Bradford, from September 1983 until retiring in August 2022. She then travelled extensively, including trips to New Zealand, Canada and Brazil. The court heard Ms Easton flew to Rwanda on 19 June to visit a gorilla sanctuary before travelling to Zambia's capital Lusaka on 24 June. According to a statement prepared by travel company Expert Africa and read by Ms Chandler, on the day of her death Ms Easton left Big Lagoon Camp at 06:00 local time before heading on a safari walk led by a guide and tracker. It said: "The group walked 300m from camp when they spotted an adult elephant and child. The elephant seemed calm, was feeding on fruit and showed no signs of distress. "The guide adjusted the group's walk to avoid the elephants smelling them on the wind. A short while later the group continued now that they were at a safe distance. "From his position at the back of the group, the tracker saw the elephant charge from the side about 15m away. He immediately shot a warning shot but the elephant continued." A death certificate in Zambia concluded Ms Easton had died from blunt trauma to the chest, while a post-mortem in the UK gave the cause of death as traumatic thoracic injuries.
