Dad's double tragedy as daughter dies in bed collapse horror and son in moped crash

Robert Casson, a former miner, suffered the heartbreak of losing Helen Davey when a faulty ottoman bed collapsed on top of her, and then his son in a moped accident

A devastated dad whose daughter died when a faulty ottoman bed collapsed on top of her also lost his son in a fatal moped accident.

Robert Casson, 66, told friends there were "no words that cover" the tragic deaths of Helen Davey and Luke Casson, who died 13 years earlier, aged just 16. Mum-of-two Helen, 39, suffocated when she became trapped in between the mattress and the bed base in the freak accident. Luke, a popular Year 11 pupil, died of a brain injury when he crashed his moped into a telegraph pole near his home.

Helen's tragedy happened in June this year at her home in Seaham, County Durham. The self-employed beautician was found lifeless by her daughter, 19-year-old Elizabeth, and Helen was later laid to rest alongside her brother's interred ashes.

Speaking ahead of his daughter's funeral, Mr Casson said: "Our hearts are broken as we bury our two beloved kids today. Helen only 39 died 6 June 2024. Luke was 16 and died 21 May 2011.

"Both lost in tragic accidents and will be missed our whole lives. Our love and thanks go out to everyone who has contacted us with messages, cards and flowers. There are no words that cover it."

Helen's death happened nearly 13 years after Luke's passing, which occurred less than three weeks after he passed his provisional test. The teenager took evasive action when he saw a Range Rover driving towards his moped, it is understood. However, Luke lost control, falling from the bike and hitting a wooden telegraph pole in Hutton Henry, County Durham.

Mr Casson, who is a former miner, is now coming to terms with the fresh grief. Helen was trapped when the one of the gas-lift pistons failed on her ottoman bed failed, causing the heavy frame to collapse, her inquest heard.

Elizabeth told Crook Coroners' Court how she fought to try and free her mother. She said: "I went upstairs, my mam's bedroom door was wide open, and I saw her lying on her back with her head under the bed.

"Her legs were bent as if she was trying to get up. I dropped everything that I was holding and tried to lift the top of the bed off her head. The bed was no longer a soft close and could fall heavily if it was released.

"It was so heavy for me to lift it up and try to pull her out. I managed to lift it up enough to use my foot to support it. I noticed that her face was blue with a clear indent on her neck from the frame. I managed to pull her clear. I feared that she was dead as she made no sound. I started CPR and noticed that she wasn't breathing."

Helen, who also had an 11-year-old son, was described by her father at the inquest as "very independent, a strong individual with strong opinions and fiercely loyal". Following the tragedy, Elizabeth posted on Facebook that she and her brother were struggling to "process what had happened".

The post read: "No words would ever describe how we are feeling,' she said. 'I can't even begin to process that it's real and your (sic) not just going to walk through the door.

"Mine and George's best friend from day one, I will always wish we had more time together and that you were still by our side supporting us through everything as always. I hope you know how much I love you and that I'd do anything for one more cuddle. Until we meet again my angel."

When approached by Mail Online, Mr Casson did not want to speak of the double tragedy. He did, though, share his grief at the inquest and ahead of Helen's funeral this summer.

Senior coroner for Durham, Jeremy Chipperfield, has written to the Government warning there is a risk of other deaths unless action is taken. He said it was his duty to raise concerns with the Office for Product Standards at the Department for Business and Trade about "the existence and use of gas piston bed mechanisms whose failure presents risk to life."

He said: "I find that it's likely that it (the bed) pushed her down, possibly forwards to start with. It is difficult to imagine how she ended up on her back. It may have been part of a struggle that took place while she was trying to get up.

"It is easy to see, I think, how being in that position, however, that arose, it would have been hard to stand up when she is on her back under a bed frame which I understand was quite heavy."