Tag: Starvation

11 she was an artist. she dreamed

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Because of her paranoia
she had no television, rarely
used her computer, would often
throw away her mobile phone
and change her number;
she thought it was being bugged.
She had accused her mother
and female neighbours
of being witches, once
accused a woman
walking her dog
of sending messages to the police.
She was unable to shop or cook.
Shopping online was difficult – she did not like
to use the computer, was scared
to open the door.
She would turn up outside her mother’s house
7am
screaming
threatening to burn the house down.
At one stage
she tried to climb the telegraph pole
outside the house.
On several occasions she had run away –
to local woodland, where she had lived for several months;
to Siberia in the middle of winter;
to Israel –
to escape those she believed
were conspiring against her.
She was an artist. She dreamed
of buying
a rundown bungalow
in Cornwall.
She had attempted suicide several times when she was younger;
a demon
in her head
was telling her to take her own life.
For the last year of her life
she had been complaining of extreme fatigue.
She had lived with her mother and step-father for many years,
then for two years in sheltered accommodation nearby,
but was moved into a housing association flat.
The flat was very dirty. No working
appliances, full
of rubbish and filth,
huge holes in the floor,
the dual carriageway
in front of the windows.
All her benefits
had been removed by the Department,
which wrote to tell her
her support was ending
because she had failed to return a form on time.
The Housing Association
sent letters
threatening to evict her.
The Council sent a summons
for unpaid tax.
Her electricity had been
cut off.
During the summer, she visited her mother regularly,
and told her she was surviving
on a sandwich and a cup of coffee a day.
In September, she had a psychotic episode
and again cut off
contact with her mother.
In October, her mother messaged her
that her grandmother had died.
There was no reply.
She was being given injections of flupenthixol
a powerful anti-psychotic
every two weeks.
Later in October,
her non-appearance
for the scheduled injection
failed to be noticed –
the Trust had been significantly under-staffed –
until a new co-ordinator
tried unsuccessfully to contact her,
and alerted the police
a week later.
In March, the Department wrote to her mother
to tell her it would be making a back-payment
from April to the day in November
when the police discovered her body.

[Disability News Service, 08/09/2022, DWP hounded disabled woman for years before her ‘starvation’ death, papers show]

13 after he left the army

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He joined the army at 17;
served for two years in Belfast, a lance corporal.
After he left the army,
he worked with BT for 16 years, then
different jobs, but left
to care full-time
for his mother
who had dementia.
After she went into a home
he looked for work,
took two unpaid placements
(he was denied a third)
but his benefits were stopped
when he missed an appointment at the Jobcentre.
He was diabetic. Without support
he couldn’t afford to eat
or put credit
on his electricity card
to keep the fridge working
where he kept his insulin.
On the day he died
of diabetic ketoacidosis
he had three pounds forty-four pence,
six tea bags, a tin
of soup and a can of sardines
(out of date),
no food in his stomach,
and a pile of CVs
next to his body.

[The Daily Mirror, 27/07/2014, Killed by benefits cuts; The Guardian, 09/09/2014, David Clapson’s awful death was the result of grotesque government policies]

14 she was no longer allowed to work

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After her leave to remain expired
she was no longer allowed to work.
She claimed asylum,
was relying on food from friends
and charities.
No one had heard from her for four days.
Her one-year-old son
weakened from starvation
was found by police
crying
beside her body.

[Herald Scotland, 25/08/2020, Mum ‘found dead beside starving one-year-old baby’ in Glasgow flat]

27 left in his flat

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He had been sectioned before,
could not cope
with unexpected changes.
‘Upsets my life completely.
Feel under threat and upset.
Cannot deal with social
situations. Keep myself
to myself. Do not engage
with strangers. Have no social life.
Feel anxiety and panic
in new situations.’
He had been receiving benefits for many years
as a result of enduring mental distress.
The Department stopped his allowance
and backdated that decision
to the previous month
after making two unsuccessful visits to his home
to ask him why he had not attended a face-to-face assessment.
His housing benefit was also stopped;
standard procedure.
He had just a couple of out-of-date tins of fish
left in his flat
and he weighed just four-and-a-half stone
when his body was found by bailiffs
who had knocked down his front door
to evict him.

[Disability News Service, 23/01/2020, The death of Errol Graham: Man starved to death after DWP wrongly stopped his benefits]

32 his doctor would have told them

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He had stated in the assessment form
that he had problems:
anxiety
depression.
He was unable to cope
with either support workers
or help from his family.
Because of the severity of his panic attacks
the assessment was carried out
at the cottage where he lived
alone.
His mother says he was unaware
of the purpose of the assessment
she said
neither the assessor
nor the Department
made any attempt to secure
evidence about his health.
His doctor would have told them
that he was unable to work.
The doctor told the inquest
he had visited him in extreme distress
a short time after his benefits were stopped.
The doctor handed him a note
explaining that he was extremely unwell
and completely unfit for work.
The note does not appear to have reached his local Jobcentre.
He did not take his own life, though;
four months after his benefits were stopped
he starved to death.

[Disability News Service, 02/12/2019, DWP: The Case for the Prosecution]

55 not compatible

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After a half-hour interview at his home
he was assessed as capable to return to work.
 
He was very distressed.
(Rising rent arrears,
warnings from the electricity company.)
He was reluctant to ask relatives for help;
they were unaware his benefits had been removed.
Concerned about his patient’s condition,
his doctor wrote a letter
in support of his application:
‘extremely unwell
and absolutely unfit
for any work
whatsoever.
Please do not stop
or reduce his benefits.
He simply is not well enough to cope
with this extra stress.
His mental and medical condition
is extremely serious.’
It is not clear whether the letter
reached the Jobcentre.
He was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome
and obsessive compulsive disorder
in his late 20s.
He had an eating disorder
and cognitive behavioural problems.
He was sacked from his first job
because he was unable to follow instructions.
The Department’s assessment concluded
his mental state
was normal.
This triggered a decision
by the jobcentre
to stop his sickness benefits.
His housing benefits were stopped around the same time.
He was not told.
He struggled to survive
on his disability allowance.
Forty pounds a week
to live on.
His sister said
‘He would have wanted to be seen as normal.
He was desperate to get by
as normal.’
A body mass index
of between eighteen point five
and twenty-four point nine
is considered healthy
for a man.
Between April and August his
dropped
from fourteen point one
to eleven point five;
he weighed five stone eight pounds
(thirty-five kilos)
when he died.
The doctor told the inquest
his body mass index
was not compatible
with life.

The Guardian, 28/02/2014, Vulnerable man starved to death after benefits were cut]