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.

Ms Curry, 45, of Walworth, southeast London, said that Connor’s aunt, Maureen Hopkins, discovered the body. “I called him for his food and there was no reply. Connor’s auntie said she would go and look in the room and that’s where she found him. I just heard her, she called me. I ran into the room and I knew by the way she was calling something was wrong. “The Nintendo was on the floor. Maureen said that when she went in there he was holding the wires and she pulled the wires off him. When she went to separate him she got a shock.”

She added: “He wasn’t wet and he wasn’t wearing the same clothes he wore when he went swimming.”

Connor was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Keith Skinner, 49, Connor’s stepfather, said that he had bought the charger in the belief it had been made by Nintendo.

After Connor’s death, the device was sent to LGA, a German electrical laboratory, where it was found to be far below European safety standards.

The gap between the primary and secondary circuits was 1 millimetre wide, compared with European standards, which require 4.6mm gap.

Recording a ruling of accidental death, John Sampson, the coroner, condemned the sale of counterfeit goods. They “look as if they might be official, and there is no way of knowing by looking at them that they are anything but official”.Nintendo said that it would continue to work with Connor’s family in an effort to trace where the charger came from.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Science News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Sarah Brown says 'no thanks' to veal at G8 - twice
• Stockton-on-Tees is obesity capital of Britain
• Stores blame poor sales on Murray factor