Inquest hears teenager was killed by barbecue fumes whilst camping in south Shropshire
A verdict of accidental death was today passed at an inquest into the tragic death of 14-year-old Hannah Thomas-Jones who died from carbon monoxide poisoning last May.
Hannah died after a barbecue was left inside the tent for the family to keep warm. The teenager was killed by fumes from the barbecue placed inside the tent to keep her family warm, the coroner ruled.
She was pronounced dead by paramedics the morning after she arrived at the site behind the Baron of Beef pub in Bucknell.
An inquest at Wem Coroner’s Court heard her stepfather Phil Jones, mother Danielle and her 11-year-old brother, were also found unconscious inside the tent and rushed to hospital, but survived.
The hearing heard the family, from Wilmslow in Cheshire, arrived at the campsite on May 5 last year and watched a football match in the pub before going to their tent for a barbecue.
Hannah’s mother, giving evidence, said: “It was clear the barbecue had burned down. We wanted to take it into the porch area of the tent. We were cold and I thought the children would be cold. We made it effectively fire-proof, but we didn’t understand the dangers of carbon monoxide.”
Fire incident commander Shaun Baker told the coroner he believed Hannah died because she was facing a different way to the other three.
A reconstruction showed carbon monoxide levels would have been higher at the back of the tent.
The inquest was heard by Mid and north-west Shropshire coroner John Ellery.
