Shop worker died after falling down stairs while making a cup of tea

Diane Claughton, 24, suffered massive head injuries as she "somersaulted" forward down just four stairs and smashed her head on the bottom metal stair tread at the Carphone Warehouse branch in Briggate.

She was taken to Leeds General Infirmary where she underwent emergency brain surgery, but a few hours later her family, from Cottingley, Leeds, agreed for her life support machine to be switched off.

A jury returned a verdict of accidental death on Miss Claughton after hearing that there was nothing wrong with the shop's stairs.

Miss Claughton had been upstairs to make herself a drink and was carrying it down when she fell, last September. She had negotiated 16 steps leading to a small landing area, when she suddenly lost her footing.

Store assistant manager Christopher Lath said: "She was making and drinking a lot of tea. It was a bit of a joke in the shop. She would make us all tea and would often come down carrying four cups.

"She was holding a cup of tea in her left hand and her other hand was over the banister.

"She stumbled forwards and then tried to protect herself from falling. She somersaulted and hit her head on the last step. There was an almighty crack."

He said he had seen other people slip on the stairs, adding: "Since I've worked at the store I must have seen two people a day stumble on the stairs."

Health and safety officer John Tootle confirmed that the steps met building regulations and tests carried out to establish their "slip factor" deemed them low risk.

Coroner David Hinchliffe concluded that her death was a tragic accident.

He said: "It might be that she miscalculated the drop, lost her footing or caught her heel on the stairs. And because she was carrying something, she might not have been able to recover her balance."