Gas detector 'could have saved couple'

Gas detector 'could have saved couple'

The couple died at their home in Leicester

A simple carbon monoxide detector could have saved the lives of an elderly couple who died as they slept, an inquest has heard.

Barry and Norma Weedon were found in an upstairs bedroom of their home in Saffron Road, South Wigston, Leicestershire, on 18 December last year.

The hearing in Leicester was told on Thursday how the couple were found to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning after a deadly leak from an old gas boiler.

Emergency crews who broke into the property were met with a "pungent, smoky smell and a thick haze" and also saw the Weedons' pet cat lying dead.

Firefighters with breathing apparatus later found Mrs Weedon, 56, and her 71-year-old husband.

A gas expert told the hearing the boiler was leaking gas at a rate that would lead to death within two hours.

The Weedons had no detector and would have had little chance of survival as the gas is hard to detect.

Recording verdicts of death by misadventure, Leicester coroner Mario Anastasiades said detectors should be installed wherever possible.