Overview

• Thomas Oliver Hill, an 18-year-old aquaculture student at Stirling University, died in October 2015 from carbon monoxide poisoning while preparing a bath at Glenmark Cottage in Scotland.
• A post-mortem and Health and Safety Executive investigation found that an LPG cabinet heater operating in an 11-cubic-metre bathroom with painted-shut windows allowed lethal gas to accumulate.
• A carbon monoxide alarm sounded in the kitchen the night before but was not linked to the bathroom heater, and the cottage’s occupants remained unaware of the heater’s role.
• Mark Beard and other witnesses testified that the portable heater lacked clear indoor-use warnings, had been inspected just days earlier and showed damage that exacerbated the leak.
• Coroner Jason Pegg concluded the death was accidental and will issue a Prevention of Future Deaths report calling for clearer instructions and tighter regulation of LPG heaters in confined rental properties.