Woman died after getting trapped naked in cupboard
The family of a woman who died after becoming trapped in an airing cupboard said she was a “sporty, fit and healthy” mum.
Elizabeth Mary Isherwood died while on holiday at her family’s timeshare in Wales.
An inquest into her death heard the 60-year-old became trapped in an airing cupboard when the doorknob “disintegrated”. She tried to break out using a piece of water pipe, but got sprayed with water after breaking the pipe.
Mrs Isherwood, known as Mary, had checked into Plas Talgarth in Pennal, Machynlleth, on September 23 last year. Her family believe she mistook the airing cupboard for the bathroom.
Her ex-husband Clive said: “Mary and I met for a drink on the Friday before she went to the timeshare. It was our timeshare that we’d bought together when we were married but we’d recently sold it.
“The staff at the complex had given Mary some vouchers to use for a final stay. She would’ve usually gone with friends but nobody could make it during that week so she went alone.
“We think she arrived there early on the Saturday, had gone for a swim and then gone back to the room after she’d checked in. She’d gone to bed, then woke in the night to use the bathroom and had somehow managed to get trapped in the airing cupboard, which is inside the en-suite bathroom.
“The broken pipe sprayed water throughout the airing cupboard, leaving her drenched.”
The inquest heard how Mrs Isherwood, who was naked inside the cupboard, died of hypothermia.
Coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones said the doorknob seemed to have come off the internal mechanism, which was still attached to the door.
Speaking at the inquest in Caernarfon, he said: “Being unable to turn the lock and realising she was trapped and there was no light, at some stage she first of all pulled the shelves off. Whether she used them to try and get out, I can’t say.
“What she did do was she pulled the copper piping and a piece was broken off. This was used to try initially to open the door because there were marks on the door, but also used to try and break a hole through the wall of the airing cupboard.
“I believe she knocked some of the plaster of one wall to find blocks behind.”
Mrs Isherwood managed to make a hole in another wall.
Mr Pritchard Jones said: “Unfortunately, on the other side of the wall was a picture. She had been able to break a hole completely through that wall. I think the presence of the picture meant she didn’t realise – she probably thought she couldn’t get out.”
Clive, 65, said: “We heard at the inquest that witnesses from the complex had heard banging on the Saturday night. They didn’t report anything, though, as they thought it was maintenance work. They’d said that the banging stopped at around 5pm on Sunday night and they thought nothing more of it.
“Her body wasn’t found until the day she was due to check out, which was a week later; so this happened right at the start of her trip. Maintenance had been sent to investigate some leaking water and had found Mary’s body trapped in the cupboard.”
Mrs Isherwood’s family said they are now considering taking legal action against Plas Talgarth.
Her son Craig said: “She hadn’t even unpacked, as when they found her body a week later her clothes and case were still in the room untouched.
“We are all absolutely devastated to find out what happened. Mum was so sporty, fit, healthy and loved playing golf. If anyone could have got out of that cupboard, it would have been Mum.
“The inquest has brought it all back to us; it’s been a tough nine months and losing her has left a huge hole in our lives.”
Mrs Isherwood, who was from Wolverhampton, had been working as a part-time carer and had previously worked as a police officer.
A spokesman for Macdonald Hotels and Resorts, which owns Plas Talgarth, said: “Our sincerest condolences go out to the family of Mrs Isherwood after such a tragic event.”