A married couple found dead in their camper van at a cider festival in the New Forest died from carbon monoxide poisoning, an inquest has heard.
Details of the incident
Christopher Coll, 45, and Kayleigh Coll, 38, from Blandford Forum, Dorset, died on October 12 last year while they were exhibitors at the cider craft festival. The business owner and trainee accountant had gone to the fair to sell crafts and stayed in their van in a field for exhibitors on site.
They were discovered dead by fellow exhibitor Alexander Huxley, who had met the pair the night before over drinks and music. He thought it was strange they did not turn up to their stall at around 11.30am the next morning. When he opened the van door, he was met with a strong smell of gas. He found a gas heater with a canister attached and saw the couple not moving in the back of the van.
Inquest findings
An inspection of the gas heater and cylinder after their deaths found it had been used with 10% of gas left in the cylinder, and the heater was not securely fitted to the gas bottle, causing a gas leak. Hampshire area coroner Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp said: “We’ll never know how the connection became disconnected.”
Howard Jonas from Flogas, the company that carried out the inspection, added that parabolic heaters should only be used outdoors or in well-ventilated spaces. The coroner concluded: “Overnight on the 11th they suffered carbon monoxide poisoning due to running a camper gas cylinder with a heater that was not designed for use in an inside environment.”
She told the families she could not conclude their deaths were accidental because it was a deliberate act to put the heating on “with a totally unintended consequence”. Instead, she concluded their deaths were misadventure.
Safety concerns
The coroner raised concerns over whether a safety warning is present on heaters to say they cannot be used in enclosed spaces. Ms Rhodes-Kemp said: “I will be contacting the manufacturers of the heater to see whether a warning is on the device itself, I think that may prevent a future death. All I can say is I am terribly sorry because it’s an absolute tragedy for two young people to die like this.”
She added that the butane gas smell detected by Mr Huxley was largely irrelevant to their deaths, as non-smelling carbon monoxide toxicity was the cause of death.
Family tributes
Family members described Kayleigh Coll as the most kind person you could ever meet, and Christopher Coll as a very loving, good person who “absolutely adored” his children and had goals to live off the land and be self-sufficient. The inquest for Ms Coll heard that this was a one-off occasion the couple slept in the van as they tried to get their business off the ground.
