Resort sued after guest dies in airing cupboard
A man whose mother died after getting trapped in her holiday accommodation airing cupboard is to sue the resort company for negligence.
Craig Isherwood is suing Macdonald Resorts after the death of his mother at one of the company’s Welsh properties.
Elizabeth Isherwood died from hypothermia after becoming trapped in the airing cupboard when the doorknob broke at the Plas Talgarth holiday complex near Machynlleth.
An inquest in June heard that the former policewoman became trapped in the middle of the night after the door, which opened inwards, closed behind her and the door handle broke.
The 60-year-old, who had returned to the UK to be close to her family after emigrating to New Zealand, was travelling alone and had not even unpacked when she became trapped.
She fought to free herself, clawing through brickwork and plaster using a pipe she had broken to chisel through the walls.
However, Isherwood, who was naked, was drenched in water spraying from the broken pipe, which accelerated the hypothermia.
Her body was found a week later by a maintenance worker when water began to seep through the ceiling.
The inquest ruled she died of misadventure.
Mr Isherwood said: “My mother died in the most terrible circumstances you could imagine.
“The legal action is not about the compensation, because how can you put a value on a life? It is about the fact that this should never have happened.
“I just want the company to admit that they made a mistake in not checking the door properly and make sure that this cannot happen to anyone else.”
Mr Isherwood alleges Macdonald Resorts was negligent in failing to check whether the door handle was working properly.
He is seeking compensation for Mrs Isherwood’s injuries and the loss of the care she had been providing for granddaughters Molly, 11, and Poppy, eight.
His lawyer, Adam Wilson said: “This was a quite horrific tragedy. There is no amount of money which can compensate Mr Isherwood and his two children for the loss of a much-loved mother and grandmother.
“But we believe that this was a tragedy which could, and should, have been avoided.
“It is impossible to imagine the distress that Mrs Isherwood must have gone through as she tried to free herself from that cupboard.
“The central issue is whether the company was negligent in not correctly maintaining the door at the property, which we believe to be the case.”
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