A coroner has criticised a doctor for releasing the body of an elderly woman from hospital before a post-mortem examination could be carried out.
Ms Janet Boyle (100) died after being pinned to the ground by a storage heater which fell on her in the hallway of her home in Melvin Court, Derry, on January 1st this year. She died in Altnagelvin Hospital six weeks later from pneumonia following severe burns to both legs.
After her death Dr David McDermott of Altnagelvin Hospital notified Derry's deputy coroner, Mr George Copeland. Dr McDermott admitted that although Mr Copeland gave instructions for a postmortem, he ordered the release of the body before it was held.
"I was not familiar with the proper procedure at the time," he told the city coroner, Mr Ronnie O'Doherty, yesterday. "My mistake was a genuine error and a lack of familiarity with procedure."
Earlier Constable Richard Cooke said he had received a request from the deputy coroner that arrangements be made for a post-mortem.
Mr O'Doherty said that in his 15 years as a coroner this was the first time he did not have an autopsy report for an inquest.
"If the circumstances of this case were not so clear, it could be that this lady's body would have to be exhumed with all the distress that would cause," he said. He recorded a verdict that Ms Boyle died from pneumonia following burns to the legs.