Botched wiring killed mother

The daughter of a prominent MP died from a huge electrical shock after builders botched the installation of her fitted kitchen, an inquest heard today.

Mary Wherry, 34, whose mother is Liberal Democrat MP Jenny Tonge, was unloading her dishwasher and is believed to have been putting a spoon onto a metal wall-mounted utensil rack when she was electrocuted.

Mother-of-two Mrs Wherry collapsed to the floor in her home in Hampton Hill and was found unconscious by her two young sons, George, five, and four-yearold Mickey.

Neighbours were alerted by screams from the children and ran to help. They administered CPR and called an ambulance which took Mrs Wherry to the West Middlesex hospital. But her death - on 31 July - was believed to be instantaneous.

The cause of death was given as an electrical shock.

Now her family are considering suing the unnamed building firm for damages.

Fulham coroner's court heard that Mrs Wherry's family became suspicious that something was wrong in the kitchen after a family friend tried to put something onto the same rack, which was under the cooker hood, that same day and received a small shock.

Police brought in electrical experts and found that the Huddersfieldbased builders, who installed the kitchen in 1999, had broken a string of safety guidelines.

The electrical cable which led from a fuse box to the extractor fan hood above the cooker was not covered with any protective layer and was only 10mm deep into the wall instead of the recommended 50mm. The cable also meandered across the wall instead of being fitted in strict horizontal or vertical lines.

Mrs Wherry's husband Jake put up the rack three years ago and thought he had positioned it away from any cables, although he did not check.

Evidence to the inquest from electrical engineer David Latimer, who examined the kitchen, was that a screw from the rack had caught the side of the electrical cable. Over the years the rack and screw had moved slightly so that eventually the screw touched the live wire in the cable. Every time a metal object was put on the rack there was a small electric shock.

But Mrs Wherry's shock was fatal because her ankle is believed to have been touching the metalfronted open door of the dishwasher.

A two-and-a-half inch black mark with yellow bruising was found on her left ankle, indicating the spot where the electricity had left her body and travelled to the dishwasher, Detective Inspector Tim Dobson told the court.

Coroner Alison Thompson said that Mrs Wherry would have survived if the cable had been properly installed.

Recording a verdict of accidental death she said: "The cable had not been fitted in accordance with regulations from the Institute of Electrical Engineers.

"I am going to record that the death was the consequence of home improvement work."

The family would not comment as they left the court.