Boy, 7, Killed By Fake Gameboy Charger Bought On Holiday

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2641861.ece

A boy was electrocuted by a counterfeit Gameboy charger while on a family holiday in Thailand, an inquest was told yesterday.

Connor O’Keefe, 7, was found dead on the floor of his hotel room in the island of Phuket, clutching the wires of the £9 charger. Thai police initially said that he had died because he was still wet from swimming when he plugged in the device.

Later tests on the charger, which Connor’s stepfather had bought for him in a Phuket store, found that it had “serious defects”, Southwark Coroner’s Court was told.

Wires within the charger were dangerously close together, which meant it could easily become live and electrocute a user.

On the day of his death, December 30, 2006, Connor had been out all day quad-biking with his family. When they returned to the Sunset Beach Resort at Patong Beach, he went for a swim in the hotel pool. He then returned to the hotel room and asked his mother, Kathleen Curry, for some food before going off to play with his Gameboy.

:cry: