The family were asleep when the fire tore through the cottage
Fionnghuala Shearman and her children Eve and Ohner died in the fire as Thomas tried to save them(Image: Instagram)
An inquest has revealed that a mother and her two children, who tragically lost their lives in a Boxing Day fire at their Gloucestershire home, died due to “exposure to the combustion products of fire”.
Fionnghuala Shearman, 38, affectionately known as Nu, and her young children, Eve, seven, and four year old Ohner, perished when a devastating fire ripped through their residence in Brimscombe, near Stroud.
The inquest held at Gloucestershire coroner’s court on Monday heard how police officer Tom Shearman made desperate attempts to save his family but was repelled by the intensity of the flames.
Emergency services were summoned to the mid-terrace Cotswold stone cottage on Brimscombe Hill around 3am as the blaze consumed the property.
Katy Skerrett, the Senior Coroner for Gloucestershire, initiated three separate inquests into the deaths of Mrs Shearman and her two children, reports the Mirror.
Ms Skerrett recounted the heartbreaking events of that fateful night to the court. She stated: “The fire service was contacted at 3.12am on December 26 2025 by a neighbour reporting that there was a fire.
“When the fire service arrived, the house, a terrace cottage, was well ablaze. It took some time to contain that blaze.
“It was established that only one of the four occupants had managed to escape the cottage alive, Tom Shearman. The other three occupants were unable to exit the house due to the fire and smoke which engulfed the property.
“When Tom had been spoken to by the police he explained that he and Fionnghuala were awoken by smoke during the night. He got out of bed and attempted to enter the children’s bedroom, but the smoke and heat prevented him from doing so.
“He managed to exit the cottage by the bathroom window and then attempted to re-enter the house by the window, but once again, the fire prevented him from doing so. Despite several repeated attempts, he was unable to re-enter the house.”
A forensic pathologist provided a provisional cause of death for all three members of the Shearman family as “exposure to the combustion products of fire, pending toxicology and microscopy,” Ms Skerrett stated.
Mrs Shearman was formally identified through a tattoo on her body, whilst her two children were identified through DNA analysis, the inquest was told.
The coroner adjourned all three inquests without setting a further date.
No members of the Shearman family were present at the brief hearing, which lasted less than 10 minutes.
Police suspect the fire began on the ground floor and investigations continue to determine the cause, though it is not being treated as suspicious.
The blaze destroyed the roof, ceilings and stairs, whilst causing other substantial internal damage. A fundraising campaign for the family has raised nearly £440,000 so far.
