The story of who struck who first in a violent row that ended in a pensioner’s death will never be known, an inquest has heard.

In October 2010, police were called to the bloodied scene and found furniture upturned at the house in Salt Street, Manningham, where Manzoor Begum, 80, and her husband of more than 60 years, Ali Mohammed Sher, had lived happily together for more than 25 years.

The alarm was raised by one of their sons and had found his mother unconscious and bleeding downstairs, while his father sat injured nearby on a sofa.

The inquest heard Mr Sher had allegedly told family his wife had tried to hit him with an ornament, and that he had hit her back and thought he had killed her.

Mrs Begum’s injuries from multiple blunt impacts, a cut inflicted with severe force to her scalp and blood loss were unsurvivable and led to cardiac arrest. She was declared dead at the scene.

Both Mrs Begum and her husband, who had heart and other health problems, had defensive wounds common in warding off blows.

Mr Sher, who was initially arrested on suspicion of murdering his wife, was in hospital for seven weeks with his injuries and was never well enough to tell police what happened. He remained bed-bound at home, diagnosed with dementia, until he died nine months later.

Assistant deputy Bradford Coroner Roger Whittaker, who went on to record an open verdict, added: “What’s unclear and will never now be established is who of the two was the aggressor, who assaulted who first and with what – and what the argument was about.”

* See today's T&A for full report.