the family of a bristol woman killed on holiday in france by a parasite ridden historic tree has been paid £86,000 in compensation carolyn thorpe, 62, was enjoying a cup of coffee outside a cafe in hiers brouage, a seaside town in south west france, when the 20 foot tree toppled and crushed her to death in 2007 her daughter sarah wright was also injured by the american ash tree, which was planted 200 years ago to mark the birth of napoleon i's first son carolyn thorpe was sat in a pavement cafe when the huge tree fell onto her and her daughter ms thorpe, age 62, was killed and her daughter sarah wright was injured the family have now received around £86,000  the 200 year old ash tree was planted to celebrate the birth of napoleon i's first son an investigation after the tragic accident found it was ridden with parasites that had rotted the wood and made it very unstable  napoleon bonaparte the tree that crushed carolyn thorpe was planted to mark the birth of his son  the town hall of hiers brouage has now paid more than €100,000, or £86,000, in compensation for the tragic accident it was found the tree had been weakened by parasites making it dangerously unstable, french website the local reports of the sum, ms wright received €42,000 (£30,400) while €77,000 (£55,600) was paid out for ms thorpe's death the american ash tree   which was kept as a historical monument within the small town   was between six and seven metres high and measured 13 feet in diameter when contacted by press agency afp the current mayor of hiers brouage refused to comment at the time of the accident the then mayor was reported as saying: 'everyone thought that [the tree] would hold on for a while longer'
carolyn thorpe 2007 62 year old's bristol hiers brouage town hall
carolyn thorpe from bristol died when the tree toppled onto her in 2007  the 62 year old's daughter was also injured in the tragic accident  town hall of hiers brouage has now paid out thousands in compensation 