Exeter Crown court's heard that a flight of steps on the quayside, where an 80 year old woman fell and drowned in the river, had been used with no other accidents for 40 years.
The city council is on trial for alleged breaches of safety legislation - which it denies.
80 year old Dorothy Stevens died after falling from the steps while getting off Butts Ferry in July 2010.
Today a private safety consultant for the city council told the court the steps were not unsafe and that the real cause of the fall was Mrs Stevens's walking stick breaking.
The trial continues.
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