Triple tragedy caused by carbon monoxide poisoning

THREE people found dead in a bungalow died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Gardaí said it would be weeks before toxicology test results were complete. However, they said the autopsy indicated death was due to carbon monoxide poisoning and there was no evidence of any other type of poisoning.

Gardaí said: “It was a terrible tragedy.”

Trevor Wallwork, and his daughter Kim, 12, and son Harry, nine, died on Sunday as they were watching television.

They were discovered by his stepdaughter Vicky Barnes, 22, when her phone calls went unanswered and she drove to the house at Moygara, Gurteen, Co Sligo, from her nearby home in Tubbercurry.

Two dogs are also understood to have been found dead in the house.

Neighbours and gardaí said Vicky was shocked when she entered the house and found Trevor in an armchair and the children on the floor of the living room.

The television was still on. Christmas decorations, including a tree with lights, were on display.

Gardaí said there was a gas container linked to a heater in the hallway.

They believe the family was heating the rest of the house with that.

In addition, there was a coal fire burning in the sitting- room where they were watching television.

Forensics officers will continue investigations today to establish what the ventilation was like in the sittingroom.

Vicky’s mother, Sue — who was married to Trevor — was already in Sligo General Hospital with a serious illness.

Sue is Vicky’s mother from an earlier partnership. Kim and Harry are Trevor’s children from an earlier partnership.

Vicky discovered the bodies after 9.30pm on Sunday and raised the alarm at 9.40pm with the ambulance service who, in turn, contacted gardaí.

A local doctor pronounced the three dead at the scene at about 11pm.

Inspector Colm Nevin, who is in charge of the Garda inquiry, said: “Gardaí have taken possession of a gas container which was found in a separate room and it was connected to a heater . . . There is no suggestion at this stage of foul play.”

Gardaí had sealed off the area surrounding the house overnight. They remained there until the arrival of Deputy State Pathologist Michael Curtis at about noon yesterday.