An undertaker was accidentally crushed to death by a faulty coffin-lifting machine at a funeral parlour, an inquest has concluded.
Sally Blundell, 58, was found trapped beneath the scissor lift of a mortuary trolley after it unexpectedly descended at a branch of the East of England Co-op Funeral Services in Swaffham, Norfolk.
Ms Blundell had been working alone at the branch on 1 December 2023 when the incident occurred.
The grandmother’s body was discovered after a member of the public reported that no staff were present for an 11am appointment to see a deceased relative.
She tried to call the celebrant she had been dealing with and a message was passed to another branch, with a colleague from the Dereham branch attending and finding Ms Blundell dead.
Jurors at the Norwich inquest returned a conclusion of accidental death.
They recorded that Ms Blundell was last seen on CCTV at the funeral parlour at 9.46am and found dead at 12.06pm.
The inquest was earlier told that there are no CCTV cameras in sensitive areas of the funeral parlour, where bodies are kept.
Norfolk area coroner Yvonne Blake said that it was unclear why Ms Blundell had "inserted herself" in the device's frame, though her glasses were found on the floor nearby.
The medical cause of death for Ms Blundell, of Great Cressingham, was recorded as "contusion and compression of the chest by an external object".
Ms Blake told jurors that expert evidence presented to the inquest indicated a fault with the hydraulic scissor lift mortuary trolley.
She said the fault was that the trolley “descended unexpectedly”.
Ms Blake stated she is considering writing a Prevention of Future Deaths report to the equipment's manufacturer, A R Twigg and Son, regarding her concerns.
The East of England Co-op confirmed through barrister Dominic Kay that the chain no longer uses this specific type of trolley.
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