A tragic story that began with a plumber working on a hotel gas boiler, followed days later by the death by carbon monoxide poisoning of a woman, ended yesterday with a jury finding the plumber and his company not guilty.

Deadly carbon monoxide gases can mimic bugs such as the common cold or flu, a pathologist said yesterday.

Women attending a hen party in Kinsale who became ill in their rooms at the Trident Hotel thought at first that their drinks might have been spiked at the party but it transpired that carbon monoxide poisoning was the issue.

The Kinsale hen party that ended with the death of a woman by gas poisoning in a hotel room was recalled for a judge and jury yesterday as a plumber who adjusted the gas boiler days earlier went on trial for manslaughter.