Optometrist's widow sues British Gas over faulty thermostat, after 'too hot water' saw her husband lose leg

A widow of an optometrist is suing British Gas over claims a faulty thermostat caused her husband to lose his leg in water that was 'too hot', a court has heard.

Melvyn Kaufman, a diabetic optometrist at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, had to undergo surgery after suffering severe burns to the foot he was cleaning in a basin of hot water at home in January 2012.

Mr Kaufman, who had already had a leg amputated as a teenager, was unable to feel the temperature of the water because his diabetic condition caused a lack of sensation “at extremities”, Central London County Court was told.

He died for unrelated reasons aged 72 in 2016, four years after the accident.

Now his widow, Clare Kaufman, is suing British Gas Trading LTD for over £100,000 on behalf of her dead husband's estate, claiming a defective thermostat on a boiler the company's engineers installed and serviced resulted in his injuries.

Her legal team are arguing that the actions of the operative who fitted the boiler at their house in Barnet, North London, during a “Homecare” visit the day before the accident led to the water coming from the hot tap at unsafe temperatures.

However, British Gas claim that Mr Kaufman, believed to be a long-standing Tottenham Hotspurs fan, contributed to the impact of the accident by delaying going to hospital because he wanted to watch their game against Manchester City on TV.

Daniel Tobin, representing British Gas, said: “In essence, he says that the domestic hot water was too hot because of British Gas Trading Ltd's negligence, breach of statutory duty or breach of contract.

“There is no evidence to indicate that the boiler malfunctioned or generated water hotter than the setting on the boiler thermostat. There is also no evidence of poor practise in the manner the boiler was installed, commissioned or maintained.”

“He didn't go to hospital immediately because he wanted to stay home and watch the football,” Mr Tobin added.

The court also heard how Ms Kaufman, 71, did not realise how hot the water coming from the taps was because she always washed in cold water.

Describing the horrific accident, she said: “It was one of the most peculiar things I've ever seen. He put his foot in the water and I saw the other skin of the foot burst up into a bubble and then fall off and what was left of the foot was cherry red. It was extraordinary. He didn't scream. It seemed he'd been scalded.”

Ms Kaufman told the court she sent an engineer to check the temperature of their hot water after the incident and that it was recorded at being 80/83 degrees Celsius.

She added: “That's what the engineer told me - I wrote it down in my filofax. He was so alarmed he gave me his private mobile number and said ring him any time and he wouldn't leave the house until he's run off all the hot water because it was too hot. Anything above 55C can cause a scald. I was shocked. I didn't know they could occur at such low temperatures.”

The hearing continues.