Dead-in-bath mum killed by radiator; INQUEST: 'Electrically unsafe' cottage behind tragedy.

Byline: Mail Reporter

A "MUM in a million" was electrocuted in the bath because of a faulty heater just six days after making her dream move to Cornwall from the Midlands.

Thirza Whittall, her husband Fred and children Millie, five, and George, two, moved from Rowley Regis to a rented cottage in Portscatho, on the Roseland Peninsula, on March 22 last year.

Mrs Whittall, whose husband, Fred, was working away, was found dead in the bathroom by Millie on the morning of March 28.

An inquest in Cornwall heard the rented cottage where the family was living was "not electrically safe".

Electrician Jonathan Keam, who examined the property, said Mrs Whittall had been electrocuted because a faulty electric oil radiator had shorted, causing the bath, water, taps and waste pipe, which were not earth-bonded, to become live.

Tests established the taps carried a 175-volt charge - sufficient to kill someone.

The inquest, held by Deputy Cornwall Coroner Andrew Cox, heard the cottage belonged to villager Hilary Thompson, who had inherited the property from her mother in 1986.

Mr Whittall, a builder, had raised the issue of installing a residual current device - a safety trip switch - on part of the circuit with Mrs Thompson.

She had asked local electrician Gerald "Bruce" Brockhurst about the work but he had been unable to fit it in before the Whittalls moved in.

Mr Cox recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Mrs Whittall's father-in-law, Michael Whittall, told the inquest: I would describe her as a mum in a million."

In a statement after the inquest, Mr Whittall said: "As we have learned to our cost, a fault in an electrical installation is every bit as dangerous as a faulty gas supply.

"Steps should be taken to ensure the same standard of care is required in relation to all potential hazards at a property so no other family should suffer as we have."

CAPTION(S):

Happy: Thirza Whittall and family.