Parents of university student, 18, who died from carbon monoxide poisoning at holiday cottage say portable gas heaters should be banned

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

The parents of a university student who died after he inhaled a 'fatal quantity' of carbon monoxide while staying in a remote aristocrat-owned holiday cottage have called for 'dangerous' portable gas heaters to be banned.
Tom Hill, 18, was preparing to take a bath when he succumbed to the highly poisonous gas leaking out of the 'lethal' device at an 'idyllic' rental home in the Scottish highlands.
An inquest which took place this week, some 10 years after his tragic passing, heard the bathroom where the cabinet heater was kept was 'simply too small' - but the warning informing users of this was not obvious.
While a coroner concluded that while Tom's death in October 2015 was accidental, he said there is a risk of future deaths being caused by such devices.
'Proud' parents Jerry and Alison Hill have now called for more awareness to be raised on the dangers of carbon monoxide and portable gas heaters.
They say 'there needs to be government safety rulings' on carbon monoxide.
They said that not enough has been done to confront the dangers of the poisonous gas in the decade since Tom passed, and said it should be made 'really clear' on what people should do when a carbon monoxide alarm sounds.
The carbon monoxide alarm had sounded the night before Tom died, the inquest heard.
Mr Hill said: 'We still think that it's surprising that you can buy heaters.
'Quite often the instructions that come with the heaters aren't very clear, and I question whether they are fit for purpose really.
'I also think that there doesn't seem to be any sort of structure of people who can maintain these heaters, because I think they are basically seen as disposables.
'You buy one, and then throw them out.'
The father, who lives in Salisbury, Wilts, continued: 'And also, one of the problems with these heaters, is that quite often, they are used by quite vulnerable people in relatively low cost accommodation and they probably haven't got access to instructions, they are not going to open windows because their property is cold.
'So, from that point of view, they are very dangerous, in our opinion.
'Another thing is, people aren't really aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide.
'There needs to be government safety rulings - and films. There's no information going out.
The CO alarm had been set off the day before Tom died but the family believed the fridge to be the cause and it stopped ringing when they took it outside
'From our point of view, we wouldn't have been aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide ourselves, before Tom's death.
'Not really, not in a real sense.'
Mr Hill said people are 'trained' with what to do with a smoke alarm - but carbon monoxide alarms are a 'totally different thing'.
The inquest at Winchester Coroner's Court, Hants, heard that in October 2015, Tom was staying at Glenmark Cottage in Angus, Scotland, with his girlfriend Charlotte Beard and her family.
The house had no electricity or mains gas, and the heating was provided by a wood-burning stove and portable gas heaters.
Mark Beard, Charlotte's father, told the hearing that LPG [Liquefied Petroleum Gas] heaters were 'ubiquitously used' in the property.
He said there was a cabinet heater located in the bathroom and a carbon monoxide alarm in the kitchen, which sounded on the evening before Tom's death.
Tom, who studied aquaculture at Stirling University in Scotland, but was from Lyndhurst in Hampshire, decided to take a bath on the afternoon of October 28.
Inside the bathroom - which had windows which had been sealed shut with paint - was one of the heaters.
Mr Beard said he heard his daughter knocking on the bathroom door some time after the teen had entered the bathroom.
The engineer described rushing downstairs as he heard Charlotte, then 18, grow increasingly distressed as she did not hear a response from Tom.
The family used a wooden axe to forcibly open the 'solid' bathroom door and Mr Beard quickly unlatched the lock.
He said he was greeted by an 'intense atmosphere' with 'a strong smell of unburnt gases'.
'It smelt like the heater wasn't operating properly,' he told the inquest. 'The heater was also making a loud buzzing which was very unusual.'
The teenager was 'slumped' by the door, while the bath water was still running.
Mr Beard said his 'immediate thought was carbon monoxide poisoning, but the alarm in the kitchen was not sounding at that time'.
The father tried to open the sash windows in the bathroom to 'eliminate fumes', but said they had been painted shut and 'wouldn't open'.
An ambulance was called for the teenager but he passed away in the vehicle, which was travelling from Brechin to Dundee.
Jason Pegg - area coroner for Hampshire, Southampton, and Portsmouth - concluded Tom's death was accidental.
But, after hearing details of cabinet heaters, he said he will issue a prevention of future deaths report.
Mr Pegg said: 'There is a warning within the box where you put the gas canister, but anyone, such as the Beard family, turning up to a rented cottage, they would not know that the heater should not be used in such close confines.
'In rented cottages, and tenant cottages, there are going to be heaters of this sort which are in rooms which are too small [and] this gives rise to future deaths.
'As you sadly know, carbon monoxide is very much a silent killer and as much awareness when using potentially lethal devices that can be raised is so much better for everybody.'
Tom's father Mr Hill added that he thinks more needs to be done on what to do when a carbon monoxide alarm sounds.
'It should be made really clear to people what to do in these circumstances,' he added,' 'I don't think people do know what to do when [alarms] go off..'
Glenmark Cottage, located near the small hamlet of Tarfside, was owned by the Earl of Dalhousie and his heir Lord Ramsay.
While owned by the Dalhousie estate, it was rented out by retired teacher Piers Le Cheminant.
Burghill Farms, who trade as Dalhousie Estates, and Mr Le Cheminant were prosecuted for breaches of Health & Safety regulations in 2021.
Burghill Farms was fined £120,000 while Le Cheminant was ordered to pay £2,000 at Dundee Sheriff Court.
A Fatal Accident Inquiry report into Tom's death took place in 2023 and found that the heaters were unsuitable for the property and no system was in place for their regular maintenance.