Blocked flue caused couple to be poisoned

AN elderly couple died of carbon monoxide poisoning in their home after a gas flue was blocked over, an inquest heard yesterday.

Thomas and Treasa MacGabhann, who were 82 and 81 years old, were rushed to St Vincent’s Hospital after they were found in their home at Annaville Park in Dublin’s Dundrum on September 24, 2003.

Dr John Ryan, a consultant in the accident and emergency ward, told the Dublin City Coroner’s Court that a high level of carbon monoxide had been found in their blood.

The inquest heard there had been building work taking place behind the couple’s house, including plastering on a back wall, where there was a flue to release the emissions from their gas central heating system.

John Rogers, from Nutgrove Fire Station, who was part of the emergency team called to the scene, said: “As soon as we burst in the door we could get a strong smell of fumes.”

He told the court the flue had been blocked over.

“We got them to break around the plaster and we could actually see the fumes coming out,” Mr Rogers said. “It was the same smell as we got in the house.”

Ciarán O’Neill, who was constructing three houses to the rear of the MacGabhanns’ with his partner Michael Coyne, told the court that he had patched up scrapes in the plastering work he had ordered on the MacGabhanns’ wall.

The courtroom, including 11 relatives of the MacGabhanns’, heard Mr O’Neill had contracted plasterer Hugh Meenan, who had used Dónal and Oliver O’Toole for the job.

But Dónal O’Toole was adamant that the gap for the vents was still there when they finished in late July or August.

Mr O’Toole told the inquest he had ensured the vents were clean by using his finger and a wire brush.

Mr O’Neill told the court that when he later patched up the wall, including the flue, he had not seen any vents or slots around the sides of it.

“I just evened off the plaster up to the edge of the box,” he said.

Joseph O’Callaghan, a sub-contractor for Bord Gais at the scene, told the court: “I noticed the flue terminal was completely cemented over.” He said that the fumes given off by the gas had no way of escaping.

One of the couple’s daughters, Siobhán, told the court that her mother had been complaining of tiredness in the previous few weeks.

Then, the night before their deaths, Mrs MacGabhann was rushed to St Vincent’s Hospital for treatment.

The inquest heard she reported to the A&E ward with pins and needles in her hands and legs, feeling nauseous and with a headache.

The couple’s children told the court that Mr MacGabhann had also been unsteady on his feet.

Mrs MacGabhann was discharged later that night. She and her husband died in their home the following morning.

The coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, adjourned the inquest to hear further evidence from expert witnesses.