The mother trapped and suffocated by her own Ottoman bed: Tragedy as teenage daughter finds her body after freak accident at their home

A coroner has issued a warning after a businesswoman died in a freak accident when a faulty Ottoman bed collapsed on her head.

Mother-of-two Helen Davey, 39, suffocated when she became trapped between the mattress and the bed base.

Neighbors said she was found by her 19-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, known as Betty, after the tragedy at her home in Seaham, County Durham, on June 7. She also had an 11-year-old son, George. .

An inquest into Mrs Davey’s death found that she died because one of the gas pistons used to raise the mattress was defective.

Yesterday it emerged that Jeremy Chipperfield, senior coroner for Durham and Darlington, has written to the government warning there is a risk of other deaths unless action is taken.

An inquest into Mrs Davey’s death found that she died because one of the gas pistons used to raise the mattress was defective

The beautician’s neck became trapped against the top of the side panel of the bed base (stock photo of an Ottoman bed), a hearing was heard

He said it was his duty to raise his concerns with the Department for Business and Trade’s Office for Product Standards about “the existence and use of gas piston bed mechanisms the failure of which is dangerous to life.”

In his report after the hearing, Mr Chipperfield said: ‘The deceased was leaning over the storage space of an Ottoman-style ‘gas lift bed’ when the mattress platform unexpectedly dropped, trapping her neck against the top of the side panel of the bed. the bed base. Unable to free herself, she died of positional asphyxia.”

Betty declined to comment when contacted by the Mail, but after the tragedy was posted on Facebook, she and her brother struggled to ‘come to terms with what had happened’.

“No words can ever describe how we feel,” she said. “I can’t even begin to process that it’s real and you’re (sic) not just going to walk through the door.

‘Me and George’s best friend from day one, I will always wish we had more time together and that you were still by our side and supported us through everything like always.

“I hope you know how much I love you and that I would do anything for just one more hug. Until we meet my angel again.”

Mrs Davey ran her own beauty salon, All Dolled Up, from her smart, new-build home.

A local resident said neighbors were questioned by detectives after the tragedy.

He said Betty left their home the night of the freak accident and hasn’t lived there since.

Mrs Davey ran her own beauty salon, All Dolled Up, from her smart new-build home

Neighbors said she was found by her 19-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, known as Betty. Betty shared this tribute after the tragedy

The man said: ‘We didn’t know anything until the police and ambulance arrived.

‘We had the CID ask us questions, they asked if there was anything suspicious. They told us that there had been an accident and that Helen had been put in a position where she could no longer breathe. That’s all they told us.

‘I heard a rumor that an Ottoman bed had fallen on her. It must not have worked well because they are jumping up and down.

“The daughter was gone for a few hours and when she came back they must have found her. It’s a tragedy.’

Mrs Davey’s death is the second fatality for her family after her brother, Luke, 16, died from brain injuries when he crashed his moped into a telegraph pole in Hutton Henry, near Peterlee, in May 2011.