Woman killed by malfunctioning ottoman bed

Helen Davey, who lived in north-eastern England and ran a beauty salon, died in June as she “was leaning over the storage area of an Ottoman-styled ‘gas-lift’ bed”, coroner Jeremy Chipperfield said in his report, released last week.

Ottoman beds have a base that can be raised – usually using gas-lift hydraulics – to access a storage space underneath. They are a popular choice for householders wanting to keep bedding or unseasonal clothes out of sight.

The mattress platform on Davey’s bed fell unexpectedly, “trapping her neck against the upper surface of the side panel of the bed’s base”, Chipperfield explained.

“Unable to free herself, she died of positional asphyxia. One of the two gas-lift pistons was defective,” he said.

“I went upstairs, my mam’s bedroom door was wide open, and I saw her lying on her back with her head under the bed,” Elizabeth said in court.

“Her legs were bent as if she was trying to get up. I dropped everything that I was holding and tried to lift the top of the bed off her head.

“The bed was no longer a soft close and could fall heavily if it was released. It was so heavy for me to lift it up and try to pull her out.”

Elizabeth said she managed to left it up enough for her foot to support it.

“I noticed that her face was blue with a clear indent on her neck from the frame. I managed to pull her clear,” she said.

“I feared that she was dead as she made no sound. I started CPR and noticed that she wasn’t breathing.”

Chipperfield warned in a letter to Britain’s business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, that there is a risk of future deaths “unless action is taken”, highlighting the “existence and use of gas piston bed mechanisms whose failure presents risk to life” as a “matter of concern”.

Under UK law, coroners must report to the relevant organisation or government agency when they think action should be taken to prevent future deaths.