Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham, right, pictured with Zane's parents Kye Gbangbola and Nicole Lawler, has since attacked the 'seriously flawed inquest' - Coroner ruled Zane Gbangbola, seven, killed by carbon monoxide
- His parents Nicole and Kye were accused of leaving petrol pump running
- But they believe he was poisoned by cyanide firemen detected in home
- Shadow Home Secretary has attacked the 'seriously flawed' inquest
- And experts say not enough carbon monoxide in his blood to kill him
It is hard to imagine that anything could deepen the agony of grieving parents after the sudden death of a young child.
But after losing their seven-year-old son Zane, Nicole and Kye Gbangbola learnt to their horror that they were being blamed for his death by the authorities for using a petrol pump emitting toxic carbon monoxide to clear water from their flooded home.
Yet the couple from Surrey insisted there was a very different explanation for the tragedy: the hydrogen cyanide firemen had detected inside the house.
For two years they battled to establish the truth – only to be left devastated when earlier this month a coroner found the pump was to blame.
But now the parents have been given new hope, after Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham launched an outspoken attack on the inquest – branding it ‘seriously flawed’.
Accusing the coroner of failing to call key witnesses, Mr Burnham said there had been an obvious attempt to ‘discredit’ the grief-stricken couple, who deny using the pump.
He is now demanding an independent review of the case, similar to the one for which he long campaigned for for the Hillsborough families.
‘This was a flawed inquest,’ Mr Burnham told The Mail on Sunday. ‘Justice has not been served in this case.’
Floodwater rose around the outside of the family’s riverside home in Chertsey, Surrey, during the storms that battered Britain in February 2014.
But after losing their seven-year-old son Zane, Nicole and Kye Gbangbola learnt to their horror that they were being blamed for his death by the authorities for using a petrol pump emitting toxic carbon monoxide to clear water from their flooded home.
Yet the couple from Surrey insisted there was a very different explanation for the tragedy: the hydrogen cyanide firemen had detected inside the house.
For two years they battled to establish the truth – only to be left devastated when earlier this month a coroner found the pump was to blame.
But now the parents have been given new hope, after Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham launched an outspoken attack on the inquest – branding it ‘seriously flawed’.
Accusing the coroner of failing to call key witnesses, Mr Burnham said there had been an obvious attempt to ‘discredit’ the grief-stricken couple, who deny using the pump.
He is now demanding an independent review of the case, similar to the one for which he long campaigned for for the Hillsborough families.
‘This was a flawed inquest,’ Mr Burnham told The Mail on Sunday. ‘Justice has not been served in this case.’
Floodwater rose around the outside of the family’s riverside home in Chertsey, Surrey, during the storms that battered Britain in February 2014.
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