Carpet cleaner died after being electrocuted by faulty wiring at London home

 
p31 Electrocution story Tonka Bimbelova and Diyan Hristov (they were boyfriend and girlfriend) he was electrocuted days before they were due to get married. Collect Email pictures supplied by: ES Reporter.
Lindsay Watling5 October 2012

The heartbroken girlfriend of a carpet cleaner electrocuted while working at a London house paid tribute today to her “first and only love”.

Diyan Hristov, 22, was found slumped over furniture at the £1 million Victorian terrace home in Putney after suffering a shock from faulty wiring.

His cleaning machine and an electric pedal fan were both still running when his body was discovered in an upstairs bedroom on a chaise longue.

An inquest at Westminster coroner’s court heard that poor wiring in the house — which had undergone extensive renovation — led to exposed metal on an appliance becoming live.

Tonka Bimbelova, 26, who moved to London from Bulgaria with Mr Hristov in 2007, said: “We came over because there wasn’t much work in Bulgaria. He hardly ever took a day off. If he had the choice to work or have a day off he always chose work.”

The couple met as teenagers working at a hotel reception in the Black Sea resort of Bourgas, and had been planning to get married and start a family. Mr Hristov, who worked as a contractor for Perfect Clean, had been hired to clean carpets at the house owned by commercial lawyer Jean-Pierre Douglas-Henry in July 2010. His body was discovered by Mr Douglas-Henry’s wife. She called the emergency services but paramedics could not save him.

Coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe, who recorded a verdict of accidental death, said experts from the Health and Safety Executive had concluded there were no faults with the cleaning machine.

She said: “Therefore, his conclusion is it must have been as a result of a fault with the electrical installation.”

Ms Bimbelova said she would not make any decisions about pursuing a private prosecution until she had spoken to her lawyer.

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