Inquest hears of former New Zealand woman's harrowing death while on holiday

Elizabeth Isherwood died after she became trapped naked in an airing cupboard at the Plas Talgarth holiday complex in Wales, an inquest has heard. Photo / Supplied

The devastated family of a woman who froze to death after getting trapped in the cupboard of her holiday apartment has revealed that her cries for help were ignored by other guests who mistook her banging for maintenance work.

Elizabeth Isherwood, who lived in New Zealand for a decade in the 1990s-2000s, died from hypothermia after getting stuck in an airing cupboard while naked, having become lost while going to the toilet in the middle of the night, the Daily Mail reported.

Her family revealed that Isherwood had managed to make a hole in one of the walls and was inches from freedom, but a picture hanging up on the other side of the wall disguised the opening in the plasterboard.

An example of a villa rented out by Isherwood, this time showing the interior of the apartment. Photo / Supplied

The 60-year-old, known as Mary to friends and family, desperately tried to claw her way through the brickwork and plaster "over a number of days" after the door handle disintegrated.

But in the process, Mrs Isherwood burst a pipe which caused water to rain down on her, speeding up the process of hypothermia and leading her to freeze to death.

Her son Craig, 32, and ex-husband Clive, said other guests heard banging for 24 hours, with her body found by shocked maintenance workers a week after she checked in as they investigated a leak.

Isherwood, from Wolverhampton, is thought to have got trapped on the first night of her one-week stay at Plas Talgarth holiday complex in North Wales.

Her ex Clive Isherwood revealed that Mary had been staying at the timeshare, which the family co-owned, for the final time after receiving free vouchers.

The 65-year-old said: "It was our timeshare that we'd bought together when we were married but we'd recently sold it.

"The staff at the complex had given Mary some vouchers to use for a final stay. She would've usually gone with friends but nobody could make it during that week so she went alone."

The inquest heard harrowing details how Isherwood tried to claw her way out of the claustrophobic space when no one replied to her cries for help.

She broke off a piece of copper pipe to break through the plasterboard but failed to find an escape route.

The broken pipe sprayed water throughout the airing cupboard, leaving Mrs Isherwood drenched.

The cold water and the fact she had no clothes on brought on hypothermia which was given as the cause of death.

Clive Isherwood added: "She woke in the night to use the bathroom and had somehow got trapped in the airing cupboard which is inside the en-suite bathroom.

"The broken pipe sprayed water throughout the airing cupboard, leaving her drenched."

Her son Craig added: "She hadn't even unpacked as when they found her body a week later her clothes and case were still in the room untouched.

"We are all absolutely devastated to find out what happened. Mum was so sporty, fit, healthy, and loved playing golf.

"If anyone could have got out of that cupboard it would have been Mum.

"The inquest has brought it all back to us. It's been a tough nine months and losing her has left a huge hole in our lives."

Her family believe she took a swim in the pool after arriving at the complex on Saturday, before returning to her room.

After going to bed that evening, without unpacking, the keen sports enthusiast then woke in the middle of the night to use the en-suite bathroom.

On her way back to bed, her family believe Mary mistook the door to an airing cupboard as the door back into her bedroom.

When the door closed behind her, Mary then attempted to leave the cupboard but the door handle fell off, trapping her inside.

Clive Isherwood continued: "We heard at the inquest that witnesses from the complex had heard banging on the Saturday night.

"They didn't report anything though as they thought it was maintenance work.

"They'd said that the banging stopped at around 5pm on Sunday night and they thought nothing more of it.

"Her body wasn't found until the day she was due to check out which was a week later, so this happened right at the start of her trip.

"Maintenance had been sent to investigate some leaking water and had found Mary's body trapped in the cupboard.

"It must have been awful for her, to be trapped in there.

"She'd tried to use a broken pipe to claw her way out, and had made one hole in a wall, and another hole which we later found out, if she'd carried on banging, she probably could've escaped through.

"She must've been exhausted which is why she stopped banging."

Mary, 60, had gone for a drink with her ex-husband on the Friday evening before leaving for the apartment.

The couple had met in the police force, but split almost 30 years ago when Mary came out as gay, but had always remained on good terms.

Mary quit the police force after coming out as gay and relocated to London where she began working for the Post Office Investigation Service.

Isherwood arrived for a stay in a 'luxury self-catered lodge' in Pennal alone on September 23 last year. Photo / Supplied

While in London she met her partner Rosie and the couple moved to New Zealand together in the early 90s.

Mary returned to the UK in the early 2000s and began working as a carer.

Coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones said: "What I believe happened is some time during the night or during the morning she had got up and has gone to the bathroom.

"From there she went to the airing cupboard. The door opened inwards and it closed behind her. The cupboard was a very confined space."

Pritchard Jones said the round part of the door knob came off the internal mechanism.

He told the hearing: "Being unable to turn the lock and realising she was trapped and there was no light, she first of all pulled the shelves off.

"Whether she used them to try and get out, I can't say. What she did do was pull the copper piping and a piece was broken off.

"This was used to try to open the door because there were marks on the door but also used to try and break a hole through the wall of the airing cupboard.

"I believe she knocked some of the plaster off one wall to find blocks behind."

The court heard Isherwood managed to make a hole in another wall and was inches away from freedom.

But the coroner said: "Unfortunately on the other side of the wall was a picture. She had been able to break a hole completely through that wall.

"I think the presence of the picture meant she didn't realise. She probably thought she couldn't get out."

Isherwood was holidaying alone at the Plas Talgarth holiday complex in the village of Pennal, near Machynleth, North Wales.

She was a keen hill walker and loved to stay at the £500-a-week ($960) complex on the southern tip of the Snowdonia National Park.

She was familiar with the lay-out of her apartment but became trapped in the airing cupboard on September 23, the first night of her one-week stay.

The inquest heard part-time care worker Isherwood, from Wolverhampton, may have been stuck inside the airing cupboard for more than two days before she died.

The coroner said: "My belief is being locked in the airing cupboard happened during the night of the 23rd-24th and more than likely during the early hours of the 24th.

"I don't know how long she was in the cupboard. She was a fit lady.

"It was sheer bad luck that the knob disintegrated while Mrs Isherwood was in the cupboard, although I can't say why she was there."