CO2 victim thought drinks had been spiked

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.

Patricia Reidy-Russell, sister of the late Miriam Reidy, broken down in the witness box as she recalled what happened and trying in vain to save her sister in the case at Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday.

Richard Davis, aged 44, from Serenity, Killanully, Ballygarvan, Co Cork, is on trial for manslaughter of Miriam Reidy and two breaches of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. Mr Davis’s company, Davis Heating and Plumbing Contractors of Marina Commercial Park in Cork, is charged with two similar breaches of the safety act relating to the conversion of a gas boiler at the Trident on January 4, 2011, to which not guilty pleas were also entered.