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Mum and daughter died preparing birthday surprise in Whitstable burger van
An adored mum and daughter who were secretly decorating a burger wagon as a birthday surprise died from carbon monoxide poisoning, a coroner has concluded. Leah Churchill, 50, and Brooke Wanstall, 17, excitedly went to the family’s Meat ‘N’ Greet snack wagon in Whitstable on the night of February 13.
They were hanging banners and balloons inside the van, parked near Benacre Riding School off the Thanet Way, and leaving a birthday cake and a present as a surprise for Leah’s son and Brooke’s brother, Tyla Wanstall. He was due to start work at his wagon at 7am the following day.
But the joint inquest yesterday (May 24) heard the pair died from carbon monoxide poisoning after one of them brought a generator, usually used outside, into the burger hut. They did so probably to keep warm as they worked on their surprise.
Read more: Thousands raised for funeral of mum and daughter found dead in Whitstable burger van
When Tyla arrived at 8am, he saw his mum’s car parked beside the burger wagon and believed she had popped in to wish him a happy birthday. He shouted out, but had no response.
The joint inquest at Central and South East Kent Coroners’ Court in Maidstone heard how Tyla discovered the lifeless bodies of his mum and younger sister on February 14. He immediately went outside and dialled 999.
Paramedics arrived and, after getting the all-clear from the fire service that it was safe to enter without any effect from the fumes, they went inside. Assistant coroner Catherine Wood recorded a verdict in both cases as “accidental death”.
After hearing a report from DS Zak Foote from Kent Police, Miss Wood was satisfied there was no third party involvement in the deaths. DS Foote also said he did not believe it was the intention of Leah, who lived in Wife of Bath Hill in Canterbury, or Brooke, of College Gardens in Westgate-on-Sea, to harm themselves.
DS Foote, in written evidence read at the inquest where no witnesses or family members were in attendance, said: “(Tyla) shouted out ‘Mum’ but received no response. As he entered the hut it was dark due to there being no light.”
He added: “The whole property still had a strong smell of petrol fumes. The generator had emptied and stopped”. In heart-breaking detail the police officer described seeing the results of the thoughtful mum and daughter’s handiwork in the hut for the birthday surprise.
‘Unaware of the build-up of carbon monoxide’
“It was clear Leah and Brooke had been in the process of decorating the inside of the hut, to leave a cake and cards for Tyla to find in the morning. There were banners and balloons around the hut,” he said. They had gone into the hut at about 10.30pm.
“They must have started the generator to keep warm,” he said. However, in the enclosed space, the fumes had been “sealed” inside.
The generator was usually placed outside when it was used, he added. “They would have been unaware of the build-up of carbon monoxide because it has no smell.”
As breathing in carbon monoxide can make people feel drowsy, “it could well have been confused [by the pair] with normal tiredness because of the hour”, DS Foote said. Assistant coroner Miss Wood concluded it was “a tragic set of events” that led to deaths of the mother and daughter.
As KentLive reported in February, it was Tyla’s 26th birthday on February 14. He said at the time: “I’ve lost my mum and I’ve lost my baby sister, and in their last moments they were there just trying to make me smile.
“They were my world, they were doing something for me, all they were doing was trying to do a nice thing for me.” The day after the deaths, Tyla and his sister, Ocean, organised a balloon release along the Herne Bay seafront, joined by their little brother Sonny to honour their mum and sister.
Huge numbers of friends, family and well-wishers gathered in the early evening to release silver and pink balloons in their memory. The dad-of-one said: “My mum was my best friend, I spoke to my mum every day. She’d just do anything for anyone and she was my best friend in the whole wide world.”
“My little sister, I loved her to pieces, she was a little mini-me. She was just starting to live her life, it breaks me. She hadn’t even learnt to drive, she was just about to take her driving test. She had her whole life ahead of her and now it’s gone.”
If you would like to leave a tribute below to Leah and Brooke, or messages for Tyla and the rest of the family, you can add your comments with others.
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