A SCREW used to tighten a loose floorboard killed a man after it electrified his bathroom shower, an inquest heard yesterday.
Andrew Thornton, 37, received a 230-volt shock as he turned on the shower at his home in Banbury, Oxon, in July. Ambulancemen tried to save him but he died a short while later at hospital.
The electric shock was caused by a small screw penetrating the wiring for the shower and causing a short circuit, Nicholas Gardiner, coroner for Oxford, was told.
He issued a warning to DIY enthusiasts to take proper advice when carrying out alterations or repairs.
Mr Thornton's wife, Lorraine, said her husband went to take a shower after spending the day working on a loft conversion.
"I heard a groan followed by a couple of seconds of silence. Then there was a bang which must have been him falling over.
"I rushed to the bathroom and saw him collapsed in the bath. The metal hose was wrapped around his wrist and when I touched his arm I got an electric shock," Mrs Thornton, 35, said.
Colin Bricknell, an investigator with Midland Electricity, said a floorboard on the landing outside the bathroom had recently been replaced and one of the new screws had pierced the electric cable to the shower.
He said: "The end of the screw was burnt, which is consistent with a short circuit. This had blown the earth wire apart and made it live all the way to the shower head. The installation of the shower itself was basically safe."
Pc George Gatt, of Thames Valley Police, said it was not clear exactly who had carried out the DIY work.
He said: "We have not been able to find out who put that screw in but it was obviously to stop a floorboard creaking."
Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mr Gardiner said: "This fault must have occurred immediately before he got into the shower. If any lesson is to be learnt it is that when alterations are made to a house it is important that proper advice is taken."
