Tesco has been told to take a range of its duvet sets off its shelves after allegedly nearly strangling a two-year-old girl twice in the same night while she slept.
Pictures of Abbie Rust posted online show a red string mark around her neck, which her mother Caroline Gallagher claims was caused by a loose thread from her a pillow case tightening around her airway.
The young mum from Liverpool said the thread wrapped around her daughter’s neck so tightly that she could barely get a finger underneath the material to release it.
The thread was noticed by luck when Abbie’s partner returned home from a night shift, when he was the thread around her neck as she lay in bed with her mother.
Abbie’s mother Caroline Gallagher (right) was alerted to the thread around her daughter’s neck when her partner returned home from work
Abbie Rust (left) was nearly strangled twice in the same night when thread from a Tesco pillow case (right) reportedly wrapped around her neck
Abbie’s aunt Kerrie Gallagher left a post on Tesco’s Facebook page, warning others about the marks she claimed were left on her niece by a pillow case
Abbie’s mother said: ‘My friend had come in off the night shift, and had checked in on her while she was sleeping. It was lucky it was so early, and he shouted that there was something wrapped around her neck.
‘I tried to get my fingers under the first piece of cotton, but it just pulled the second one tighter around her neck. I managed to snap it with my fingernails, but the cotton was almost like cheese wire and it did hurt her.
‘She’s had a red mark on her neck for over a week where the blood has gathered under the skin, and she’s been complaining all week that it is sore. It’s only started fading now.’
Images posted by Abbie Rust’s aunt show a clear red line around the two-year-old’s neck, which she claims was left by a thread from a Tesco pillow case
She added: ‘They offered me a refund, but I think they should take if off the shelves. They said they would ‘maybe’ consider this, but there’s no maybe about it. She’s only two years old, and she comes into my bed during the night a lot.’
Caroline’s sister, Kerrie Gallagher, took to Tesco’s Facebook page to warn others about the duvet and pillow set.
Alongside a picture of her niece’s sore neck, she added: ‘Please Share! So this is the result of a piece of cotton being wrapped around my niece’s neck in the middle of the night from a super king bedspread from Tesco Direct.
Abbie’s mother Caroline bought the duvet set from Tesco (as advertised above) but now wants the product to stop being sold after she claims it nearly strangled her daughter
Tesco has apologised to Ms Gallagher for the incident and has said they will launch an investigation into the claims
‘My sister’s partner shouted her this morning saying the baby had cotton wrapped around her neck, so when she checked there was a piece of cotton that was doubled around the baby’s neck! She managed to cut the string free, but this could have been a lot worse.’
The store responded online: ‘I’m so sorry a loose thread from our duvet set was able to wrap around your niece’s neck in the middle of the night! I can only imagine how frightening this must have been for her and her parents.
‘I’m glad this has been reported to us and my colleagues are getting this looked into. If you do need anything else at all though please let me know and I’ll be more than happy to help.’
A Tesco spokesman added: ‘There’s nothing more important than the safety of our products so we take great care when designing and producing our bed spreads. We are urgently investigating this incident and we will update Ms Gallagher with our findings.’
Tesco has now launched an investigation into the £13.50 Dreamscene Satin Stripe duvet and pillow set.