Son to sue holiday firm after trapped mother dies
THE son of a former police officer who died after being trapped naked in her holiday flat’s airing cupboard is set to sue.
Elizabeth Isherwood succumbed to hypothermia after fighting for hours to free herself in the middle of the night.
The tragedy happened when a door handle broke in the cupboard in Mrs Isherwood’s en-suite bathroom. The 60-yearold grandmother, from Wolverhampton, became trapped on the first night of her week-long stay at the holiday complex in September 2017 after getting out of bed to use the bathroom.
She clawed through brickwork and plaster using a broken piece of pipe as a makeshift shovel – but did not realise her path to freedom was only blocked by a picture screwed to an outside wall. Her body was not found for several days.
Now her heartbroken son Craig, 33, is seeking compensation from the owners of the Plas Talgarth holiday complex, near Machynlleth in Powys, Wales.
He said: “My mother died in the most terrible circumstances you could imagine.
“We think she had been trying to escape for several hours. We believe she died that night or the following day.”
Her son is taking legal action against resort owners Macdonald Resorts. He alleges the company was negligent in failing to check whether the door handle was working properly.
Father-of-two Mr Isherwood, an RAC patrolman, said he was bringing the action to try to prevent other families enduring a similar ordeal.
“Mum was fit and healthy and had years of a very happy life ahead of her,” he said.
“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 it made a mistake in not checking the door properly and make sure this cannot happen to anyone else.”