Deceased
Norton Michael Beal-Guilfoyle
Demographics
33y, male
Date of death
2009-01-01
Finding date
2013-01-16
Cause of death
Effects of fire; inhalation of smoke with elevated carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide levels
AI-generated summary
Norton Beal-Guilfoyle, aged 33, died in a house fire on New Year's Day 2009. He attended a New Year's Eve party and consumed substantial alcohol (blood alcohol level 0.24 g/100mL), becoming severely intoxicated. He was placed in a makeshift bedroom in the garage area of a rented house. A cigarette caused the fire, likely smouldering for some time before ignition. The death was contributed to by: high intoxication reducing his ability to recognise danger and escape; the inappropriate design and unsafe features of the makeshift bedroom (small, congested, next to garage, no ventilation, locked door mechanism); and critically, the absence of a smoke detector in that room. A smoke detector would have detected smoke earlier and potentially woken him in time. The coroner found no suspicious circumstances and made no adverse findings against the householder.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Error types
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