Find local news in Kent

Home   Ashford   News   Article

Head torch explodes seconds after Ashford woman takes it off

00:00, 30 January 2017

updated: 11:37, 30 January 2017

A father from Ashford says his wife could have been killed after a head torch exploded just 30 seconds after she removed it from her head.

Darren Songhurst, 47, was shocked to discover the device he had bought for Natalie, 39, had burst into flames in the car while she was on her way to her running field.

The dad-of-three bought two of the Bosi Tools UK Ltd head torches from Amazon, but feels his safety concerns have been been disregarded by both companies.

VIDEO: The aftermath of the explosion

Mr Songhurst said: “If she had that on her head we could be looking at a fatality here. It’s lucky we’re not."

Mrs Songhurst used the torch, which cost £10.79 each, when out running with their dogs, and put the headtorch on charge at around 4.30pm last night before going for another run, using the charger provided.

She was originally going to run straight from their house in Bromley Green, but changed her mind and decided to run from Orlestone.

Darren and Natalie Songhurst
Darren and Natalie Songhurst

She got in the car with the torch still on and drove one mile to the car park.

Just before she got to the car park, Mrs Songhurst removed the torch from her head as it was hitting the sun visor. The light was off when it exploded 30 seconds later.

Mr Songhurst said: “She phoned me about 10 minutes later in a panic, saying 'Don't use the other head torch. My one's just exploded.'

“We have used it before and it has been fine. The battery pack sits on the back of your head.

“One of the batteries had exploded. Fragments ended up on the dashboard.

“It didn’t get hot or anything. It just doesn’t bear thinking about."

The headtorch after it exploded
The headtorch after it exploded

Mr Songhurst contacted Amazon who offered a refund. He continued: “I said I’m not phoning for a refund. I’m phoning you to make you aware of a dangerous product.”

He then asked to speak to the manufacturer about the safety issue, which offered the same.

Mr Songhurst said: “He said we sell hundreds of these. It must have been something you’d done when you charged it.

“There’s obviously a danger there. Natalie was so shaken up last night.”

A spokesman for Bosi Tools UK Ltd said: “We got a call from a customer regarding this issue. It has never happened before for any of our customers.

“We offer them refund for full item which they purchased and we are really sorry for that trouble. For more details, we have filed a complaint to our supplier.

Fragments of the head torch exploded all over the car
Fragments of the head torch exploded all over the car

“We have opened an investigation on them and we are checking all our stock which we have in our warehouse and planning to send whole stock back to them for replacement.

“We are giving surety we will check each and every order before dispatch from our warehouse, and it will not happen to any customer.

“We are ready to issue a full refund to the customer which got this trouble from our product.”

The product, the 6000LM 3x XM-L Led Headlamp Headlight Head Torch Lamp, has been removed from sale on amazon.co.uk.

An Amazon spokesman said: "All Marketplace sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who don’t will be subject to action including potential removal of their account. The product in question is no longer available."

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More