Sally Blundell, 58, was working alone at the East of England Co-op Funeral Services branch in Swaffham on December 1, 2023, when the tragedy occurred.  

She was later found fatally crushed by equipment used to transfer bodies from a mortuary fridge. 

An inquest is being held into the death of Sally Blundell (Image: Newsquest)

The alarm was raised after a family arrived for a pre-booked appointment but found no staff present at the premises.  

Stephen Kemp, a funeral manager from the Dereham branch, attended the site and discovered Mrs Blundell. He then contacted emergency services. 

In a statement, Mr Kemp said that a "hydraulic hoist had come down on her body and was crushing her over the chest area" and that it was “apparent to me she was already dead". 

During the second day of proceedings at Norfolk Coroner’s Court, jurors were shown the hydraulic scissor lift mortuary trolley involved in the incident.  

An inquest is being held into the death of Sally Blundell - pictured is the trolley she was using at the time of her death (Image: Norfolk Coroner's Court)

The device, which weighs around 200kg and is mainly white, had been manufactured in 2018. 

Health and Safety Executive inspector Jonathan Wright, who examined the equipment after the incident, demonstrated how the trolley functioned. 

He indicating that it could be raised to a height of approximately 5ft (1.5 metres) and pointed out the position in which Mrs Blundell had been discovered “trapped in the scissor lift” with part of her body inside the frame and lying across a bar. 

However, area coroner Yvonne Blake told the jury “we don’t know” the exact height of the trolley at the time of the incident. She added that Mrs Blundell had been discovered in a kneeling position, with her legs beneath her. 

An inquest is being held into the death of Sally Blundell (Image: Newsquest)

Further evidence was provided by engineer Dr Eleanor Jay, who prepared an expert report for the inquest.  

She described how a metal spring within the trolley mechanism had become “plastically deformed”, likely because of being “overstretched” through its use. 

She explained that this damage meant the component “didn’t always return to its closed position every time”. 

The inquest continues.

© Eastern Daily Press