Boy, 11, lucky to escape injury after tablet ‘burned his bed down to the springs’

An 11-year-old boy snuck the tablet into his room after his parents had gone to bed. They woke to a frightening scene.

Callum Hewkin snuck the tablet into his bedroom. Picture: Mercury Press/Caters News

The parents of an 11-year-old boy whose Samsung tablet burnt a hole centimetres from his head while he slept have spoken out about the terrifying ordeal.

Mum Amy Hewkin, 33, was woken last week by son Callum, who believed his tablet was stuck to his bed.

Amy and husband Stewart, 32, found the tablet minutes from catching fire and filling their son’s room with white smoke, leaving a melted hole in the his bedding and mattress to the metal springs.

The couple, from Burntwood, in Staffordshire in the UK, had no idea their son had snuck the four-year-old gadget into his room after they went to bed, leaving it on charge for up to nine hours, as they enforce a strict no-electricals-at-night rule.

“The last thing anyone wants is to wake up and find their child seriously injured or dead because a tablet or phone has set fire in their room,” Stewart said.

“We feel like we’ve had a lucky escape — Callum’s life could have been at risk.

“We had no idea he even had his tablet in his room. He had snuck it into bed with him because he wanted to watch something in bed.

“When I came downstairs in the morning about 7am, I thought I could smell burning plastic and rubber but dismissed it as we live near factories.

“But the next minute I could hear my wife screaming to come upstairs.

“I went into Callum’s room and there was a big burn mark right by where his head had been, and the room was full of white smoke.

“I was gobsmacked, I never thought it would happen to us or that something like that even could happen — you don’t expect an iPad or tablet to just start burning like that.”

There was heavy smoke in Callum’s room, but his bedroom door had stopped any of the family’s fire alarms from sounding, meaning they were not alerted to the smouldering tablet until he woke up.

The tablet was on charge in the bed. Picture: Mercury Press/Caters News

The charging device burnt a hole in the mattress. Picture: Mercury Press/Caters News

Fire crews told Stewart had the gadget been left for a further 10 minutes, it could have started a serious blaze that could even have been fatal for the whole family.

Callum, who was using the original charger with his device, has been left feeling stressed and anxious at school following the ordeal but miraculously escaped uninjured.

Surprisingly, the tablet’s charger and cable were still in perfect condition, with the burn marks contained to the battery area.

A Samsung spokesman said: “Product quality and customer safety are our top priorities at Samsung.

“We are currently reaching out to the customer to conduct a full investigation of this matter.

“Until Samsung is able to obtain and examine the device, it is impossible to determine what happened.”

Stewart has urged other parents to check on their kids to make sure they don’t have their tablets or phones with them in bed.

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service has also issued a warning urging people never to leave items to charge on potentially flammable surfaces.

Stewart said: “We went to bed the next night, and we didn’t put our phones on charge or anything. We turned off all the plugs by the wall.

“We were terrified it could happen again.

“The plug and cable were still in perfect condition, and it can’t be our home’s electrics because they didn’t trip.

“How could this not be a faulty tablet when the battery itself has basically exploded?

“It is quite terrifying.”

Callum’s parents had no idea he had taken the tablet into his bedroom. Picture: Mercury Press/Caters News

Amy added: “People need to be more aware of the dangers of electrical equipment.

“What has happened is mortifying, but we just want the awareness there.

“So many people put their phones on charge under their pillows every night without realising the risks.

“I am disappointed Callum took the tablet, but even if we had popped our head round the door to see what he was doing we might not have seen it and been able to prevent this, as it was under the covers.

“When people buy electricals there should be more safety information provided by companies like Samsung and Apple to prevent these dangers.”