Son found drowned mother after crew did not recheck her home, inquest told

A woman was discovered “floating” in flood water by her son after a fire service did not check her home the morning after it was unable to rescue her, an inquest has heard.

Maureen Gilbert, 83, was found by Paul Gilbert at her home in Tapton Terrace, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, on 21 October 2023 after the nearby River Rother burst its banks during Storm Babet.

The hearing on Tuesday was told firefighters did not go back to the property after a request to recheck Mrs Gilbert’s home was “mislogged” while Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service’s control room systems were down.

She was one of at least seven people who died as a result of Storm Babet, which caused disruption across the UK.

Chesterfield Coroner’s Court heard the fire service did everything it could to reach Mrs Gilbert at her terraced property on the evening of 20 October.

However, the hearing was told firefighters were unable to reach her.

Neil Porteous, who was an incident commander for the fire service, said he requested that Tapton Terrace be reinspected the day after crews could not rescue Mrs Gilbert, but this “was not communicated the next morning”, the inquest heard.

Clive Stanbrook, who was an area manager for the fire service, added: “This had clearly not been handed over to the next shift the next day. We should have gone back in the morning. We fell short.”

Parts of the control room system had “completely failed” on 20 October when the request to check on Mrs Gilbert was made, the inquest heard.

Mr Gilbert said it was “disappointing” that he discovered his mother himself on the morning of 21 October.

Wheelie bins and fence panels were floating in the water when firefighters attempted to make contact with Mrs Gilbert the evening before, the inquest heard.

Mr Porteous said: “It was massive amounts of water. The front gardens were completely underwater. It was a difficult scene to look at.

“Numerous wheelie bins just floating on top of the water. Loads of debris floating. Manhole covers had lifted as well.”

Mr Porteous said the crew knew Mrs Gilbert was inside the property because her son had spoken to her on the phone but then lost contact.

He said: “It was just a very, very difficult scene. We had done everything we could possibly do.

“We don’t like to leave people behind. It was just too dangerous – it was getting too dark.

“The crew said ‘can we go in?’ And at that point I had to stop them and explain why, and they understood.”

The rescue crew left the scene Tapton Terrace at 19:22, and Mr Porteous made the request for a reinspection the next day.

The inquest continues.