It has been said that a fire incident that took place in Llanrwst, Wales in which two men sadly lost their lives may have been caused by a Whirlpool tumble dryer not currently subject to the ongoing safety notice.
A fire which killed two men could have been caused by a faulty iron or an electrical fault in a tumble dryer, a pre-inquest hearing heard on 29th February 2016.
Doug McTavish, 39, and Bernard Hender , 19, lost their lives in the fire in a flat in October 2014.
David Lewis, the assistant coroner for North Wales Central, ruled he needed more information about the tumble dryer’s manufacturer and door maker before he holds another pre-inquest on May 19th.
Mr Lewis also heard that a faulty iron could have been to blame, said the case would be legally challenging and “distressing” for Garry Lloyd Jones , who was in a relationship with Mr Hender.
He also said he was considering holding the full inquest without the assistance of a jury.
The fire broke out in the first floor flat at a funeral parlour run by Mr Lloyd Jones, who tried to save Mr McTavish, his business partner.
Dr Paul Jowett, an expert from Burgoynes forensic science firm, suggested the cause of the fire was an electrical fault in the tumble dryer’s door switch.
He said the fire was not related to another issue which led to Whirlpool issuing a product safety alert over a problem with lint.
Mr Adamson said the dryer in the flat was a Whirlpool TVM model similar to five million others sold in the UK.
Harry Lambert, barrister for the McTavish family and Mr Lloyd Jones, wanted wider issues covered by the full inquest.
The assistant coroner ruled that Whirlpool must supply more details of the number of TVM models made and sold in the UK and worldwide, and of any instances reported to it of fire risks in their door switch assembly.
Mr Lewis also wanted to know how many cases Trading Standards departments have contacted Whirlpool about, and the number of inquests in England and Wales since 2004 in which Whirlpool’s TVM door switch assemblies have been implicated.
The assistant coroner also wants to find out about each “iteration” of Whirlpool’s risk assessments over its TVM dryers, and its correspondence with switch makers Bitron in relation to fire risks.
Whirlpool was given six weeks to provide the information.
Mr Lambert said that, though it was a “long shot”, Mr Lloyd Jones’ cleaner may remember his iron’s manufacturer, and the assistant coroner asked for a statement on what the cleaner recalls.
Mr Lewis said it was an “understatement” that he would be disappointed if all relevant Whirlpool documents were not disclosed because it was being “defensive”.
Mr Lloyd Jones declined to comment after the hearing.
