Father calls for gas heater ban after son's death

A father has called for a ban on the sale of portable gas heaters, 10 years after his son died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Tom Hill, 18, died in 2015 at a holiday cottage near Tarfside in Scotland, when a gas heater malfunctioned in the bathroom. He had been on holiday with his girlfriend's family at the time, who tried desperately to revive him.

Tom's father Jerry, who lives in Salisbury, said: "We think that some thought should be given to whether those [gas heaters] should be legal or not."

A Department of Business and Trade spokesperson said manufacturers "are required by law to place only safe gas heaters on the market".

An inquest into Tom's death was held earlier this month, with the coroner recording a conclusion of accidental death. He added that he would prepare a preventing future deaths report about the lack of warnings on liquid petroleum gas (LPG) heaters.

Mr Hill, who is also supporting a campaign for greater clarity over what you should do if a carbon monoxide alarm goes off, said there were a number of issues that contributed to his son's death.

"The portable gas heater, which shouldn't have been in the bathroom, had a ceramic element, which had a crack in it," he said.

"When the fire was lit it would burn behind the element and (it caused) a catastrophic malfunction that released a lethal amount of carbon monoxide."

He added that with the carbon monoxide alarm in the kitchen, it failed to go off because the door to the bathroom was shut.

The inquest, which was held in Winchester, heard Tom was in the locked bathroom when those he was staying with were unable to get a response from him.

They broke open the door and found him collapsed by the bath. Extensive efforts were made to revive Mr Hill but he was pronounced dead on the way to hospital.

Owners of the cottage, Burghill Farms and Piers Le Cheminant, who sub-let the property to holidaymakers, were prosecuted for health and safety breaches in 2021, with the farm being fined £120,000 and Le Cheminant being fined £2,000.

The Hill family have been working with the charity CO-Gas Safety to raise awareness of the dangers posed by the gas.

"In large amounts it can kill you, but in small amounts, it can make you very ill and it causes permanent damage," said Mr Hill.

He added that he would like to see regulation of portable gas heaters and better safety warnings.

"You can buy them anywhere, and you can basically install them yourself in your front room. Normally you'd have to get a gas fitter to install it," he said.

"They're not regulated in any way and they vent directly into the room.

"If an alarm sounds in a rental property, there's nothing to tell people what to do."

Stephanie Trotter, president of the CO-Gas Safety charity which is supporting the family, also called for the devices to be banned and for a public safety information campaign to be held on the dangers of carbon monoxide.

A Department of Business and Trade spokesperson said they "extend every sympathy to Tom's family and any injury or death from carbon monoxide is a terrible tragedy for those affected".

They added: "Manufacturers are required by law to place only safe gas heaters on the market and to include clear instructions on how they should be used."

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