Tumble dryer model which caused killer fire 'was behind 20 previous blazes'

A model of tumble dryer which sparked a fire that killed a mother-of-two in Birmingham had been involved in 20 previous reported blazes, an inquest has heard.

Mishell Moloney was found dead under her duvet on the floor of her bedroom by her sister and daughter after they smashed their way in through the patio doors.

The 49-year-old had been overcome by carbon monoxide fumes and smoke caused by a small fire in the tumble dryer, contained in the downstairs kitchen.

By the time Ms Moloney's family were able to get inside the home in the Rubery area of Birmingham on February 7, the fire - starved of oxygen - had already gone out.

An investigation uncovered evidence that the blaze in Coriander Close had started in or around the area where dryer's printed circuit board (PCB) was.

The dryer's manufacturer, Beko, said the PCB had never been the identified cause of any of 20 previous fires traced to the 8kg DCS 85W model.

At Birmingham Coroner's Court on Monday, during an inquest into Ms Moloney's death, Beko's director of quality, Andrew Mullen, said 38,000 units had been sold in the UK and Ireland.

Asked what faults had caused the 20 previous fires, he said:

He said a decision not to recall the model was taken only after a riskassessment, and consultation with trading standards officers.

The dryer complied with European safety standards and the UK's general fire safety regulations, he added.

Mr Mullen revealed that the 8kg model's sister products, the 6kg and 7kg versions, had been recalled but only because of numerous faults with the capacitor.

He said those smaller models had been recalled because "within the first three months in excess of 100 incidents in similar circumstances".

Mr Mullen was asked by area coroner for Birmingham and Solihull Emma Brown why Beko had not then decided to recall the larger model, which Ms Moloney had bought in October 2012.

He said:

Fire investigator James McDonald described what he found at the scene.He said:

Independent forensic consulting scientist Stephen Tompsett, who was employed by Beko to examine the dryer after the fire, was asked if some of the 20 reported blazes could have been caused by the PCB.

He said: "If there's a problem with the PCB, I think a mention would have been made of it during the joint inspection."

A verdict is expected later.