The son of a woman who died of hypothermia after becoming trapped in a cupboard at a Pennal holiday home is to sue the resort company that owns the site.
In June an inquest heard how former policewoman Elizabeth Isherwood, 60, fought for several hours to free herself after a door handle malfunctioned at a holiday home at Plas Talgarth, near Machynlleth, locking her in the cupboard in the middle of the night during a holiday in September, 2017.
She clawed through brickwork and plaster to try to escape, using a pipe she had broken as a chisel to try to cut through the walls.
But water spraying from the other end of the broken pipe drenched her as she battled to escape, accelerating the hypothermia. Her body was found by staff at the end of the week.
Plas Talgarth Country Club near Pennal. Picture: Google Streetview
Now her son Craig, 33, says he is seeking compensation from holiday resort owners Macdonald Resorts over the tragedy.
"My mother died in the most terrible circumstances you could imagine," he said.
"We think she had been trying to escape for several hours. She broke off a pipe and used that to try to break through the walls, but as a result water was spraying down on her.
“Tragically, she had made a hole big enough to climb through, but did not realise her way out was only blocked by a picture screwed to the other side of the wall.
"I just want the company to admit that they made a mistake in not checking the door properly and make sure that this cannot happen to anyone else."
Mr Isherward's representative Adam Wilson, an Associate at Midlands law firm FBC Manby Bowdler, said the accident was a "horrific tragedy".
"There is no amount of money which can compensate Mr Isherwood and his two children for the loss of a much-loved mother and grandmother," he said.
"But we believe that this was a tragedy which could, and should have been avoided. It is impossible to imagine the distress that Mrs Isherwood must have gone through as she tried to free herself from that cupboard.
"The central issue is whether the company was negligent in not correctly maintaining the door at the property, which we believe to be the case."
Mr Wilson said the action would seek compensation for Mrs Isherwood’s injuries and the loss of the care she had been giving to her grandchildren.
Macdonald Resorts have been contacted for a response.
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