Girl, 4, killed when garden shed collapses on her

 
22 August 2013

A toddler was killed when a garden shed her father was attempting to dismantle fell on top of her, an inquest heard.

Surranna Stonestreet, 4, from Bath in Somerset, suffered head injuries when when half a dozen breeze blocks that crashed down on her.

Karl, the girl's father, had tried to rebuild the shed after his brother-in-law originally erected it crookedly.

On May 3 this year, he began by using a chisel to remove the shed's door but it became stuck in the wall.

Avon Coroner's Court heard Mr Stonestreet attempted to pull the chisel away but the breeze block wall suddenly came crashing down at 3pm.

The father-of-four was horrified to see daughter Surranna - who he believed to be playing on a trampoline nearby - lying on the ground with a pile of bricks on her chest.

In a statement read to the hearing, Mr Stonestreet said: "It was my intention to take the shed down.

"This was because the front wall of the shed was not straight and I wanted to start again.

"The chisel got stuck by the door of the breeze block wall.

"At that point that wall suddenly fell towards me."

Mr Stonestreet said he stepped backwards to avoid the falling rubble and fell over.

"As I got up I could see that Surranna was lying to the side of me.

"She had six breeze blocks on her chest. She had blood coming from her mouth."

Mr Stonestreet picked up his daughter and rushed her inside the house, where wife Nicola, a full-time mother, administered CPR.

"When Nicky was working on Surranna she did begin to take some breaths," he added.

Paramedics arrived five minutes later and took Surranna to Bath's Royal United Hospital (RUH), where she was sadly pronounced dead at 4.35pm.

The inquest was told Surranna's uncle, John Copp, a self-employed ground worker, built the wall in March 2011.

Mr Copp said the wall was six feet high and 10 feet long and comprised of a breeze block front, asbestos sides and a corrugated metal roof.

"As far as I am concerned I built a solid structure and that was how I left it," Mr Copp said.

"At Christmas 2012 my brother told me the shed I built had the roof taken off and was a skeleton.

"In my opinion, this would have made the shed unstable.

"I have been devastated by the death of my niece Surranna."

Mr Copp said the Stonestreet family moved from Bridgend in Wales to the semi-detached home in October 2012.

Detective Sergeant Birt, of Avon and Somerset Police told the inquest: "During this investigation I have not found any concerning or suspicious circumstances.

"This would appear to be a tragic accident."

Maria Voisin, Coroner for Avon, concluded that Surranna - whose family did not attend the inquest - had died an "accidental death".

She said: "On May 3, 2013 at approximately 3pm Surranna sustained severe injuries after a breeze block wall fell on her at her home address.

"She was taken to RUH where she died at 16.35 from injuries she sustained.

"I appreciate the family are not in court but I would like to extend my condolences to them."

After the tragedy, Mrs Stonestreet paid tribute to her daughter on a Facebook page called "Nicola & Surranna Stonestreet".

Mrs Stonestreet wrote: "R.I.P baby ur going to be sooooo missed u were my world. Now sleeping with the angels love u darling XXXX."

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