List of those for whom Welfare Reform and cuts were too much to bear
- Thread starter Frankie Jack
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GarveyLives
Well-Known Member
Man who starved after benefits cut off 'had pulled out own teeth'
(Source: Errol Graham's family)
Errol Graham weighed four-and-a-half stone (30kg) when his body was found by bailiffs who broke into his Nottingham council flat to evict him.
Did they?
Eh?
GarveyLives
Well-Known Member
The death of a woman whose one-year-old child was reportedly found starving beside her body is being investigated.
Mercy Baguma, originally from Uganda, was discovered in a flat in Glasgow on Saturday 22 August 2020 after the sounds of her son crying were heard.
Mercy Baguma: Mum 'found dead beside baby' in Glasgow flat
(Source: as stated in image)
Mercy lost her job after her limited leave to remain expired and she was no longer allowed to work. She was living in extreme poverty when she claimed asylum and was relying on food from friends and charitable organisations.
Mercy Baguma, originally from Uganda, was discovered in a flat in Glasgow on Saturday 22 August 2020 after the sounds of her son crying were heard.
Mercy Baguma: Mum 'found dead beside baby' in Glasgow flat
(Source: as stated in image)
Mercy lost her job after her limited leave to remain expired and she was no longer allowed to work. She was living in extreme poverty when she claimed asylum and was relying on food from friends and charitable organisations.
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
Distressed mum killed herself after benefit payment struggle became 'last straw'
Philippa Day, 27, had taken an overdose in August 2019 and remained in a coma until she died on October 15 of the same year after her payments of £228 were reduced to £60 after she applied for Personal Independence Payments (PIP)
www.mirror.co.uk
Dystopiary
putting up a hook to hang my hopes upon
Don't know what it'd take for the nice affluent middle classes to give a shit. It's just awful.
GarveyLives
Well-Known Member
Man who starved after benefits cut off 'had pulled out own teeth'
(Source: Errol Graham's family)
Errol Graham weighed four-and-a-half stone (30kg) when his body was found by bailiffs who broke into his Nottingham council flat to evict him.
The fiancée of the son of mentally ill Errol Graham, who starved to death after his benefits were stopped by the Department for Work and Pensions has brought a legal claim against the Government on behalf of his family, arguing that the Department for Work and Pensions' policy on terminating benefits is unlawful. The High Court hearing before Mr Justice Bourne is expected to conclude tomorrow, with judgement to be delivered at a later date:
Department for Work and Pensions breached equality law when benefits claimant starved to death, court hears
Dystopiary
putting up a hook to hang my hopes upon
I wish her and Mr Graham's family all the best with the claim.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
A damning inquest verdict, pointing the finger pretty unequivocally at DWP. Who respond with their usual trite, meaningless, platitudinous and insincere drivel.
www.theguardian.com
Inquest finds mother took overdose after removal of benefits
Coronor says Philippa Day’s experiences with DWP were ‘predominant factor’ in her decision
BCBlues
Lend us a Twenner
A damning inquest verdict, pointing the finger pretty unequivocally at DWP. Who respond with their usual trite, meaningless, platitudinous and insincere drivel.
Inquest finds mother took overdose after removal of benefits
Coronor says Philippa Day’s experiences with DWP were ‘predominant factor’ in her decision
I read this earlier and cannot believe how badly they treated her knowing damned well of her vulnerabilities. Disgraceful.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
They don't give a shit. Organisationally, at least. I've worked with quite a few DWP employees whose emotional health has been profoundly affected by doing the job they have to do. Quite a few go onto long-term sickness, and quite a few of those are hounded out as a result, while others leave. The ones who stay tend to be less concerned about the person on the other end, or are sufficiently incompetent as to make it harder for them to move.
panpete
Blokes name, birds body.
I read about that. We slate the victorians for their cruelty and insensitivity yet we are as bad.A damning inquest verdict, pointing the finger pretty unequivocally at DWP. Who respond with their usual trite, meaningless, platitudinous and insincere drivel.
Inquest finds mother took overdose after removal of benefits
Coronor says Philippa Day’s experiences with DWP were ‘predominant factor’ in her decision
panpete
Blokes name, birds body.
I used to work in the Civil Service years ago, not DWP/DHSS and back then it was "customer always come first" even if the customer was wrong, complaints were taken seriously. We went on customer service courses, customer enquiry letters/phonecalls/visits had to be dealt with promptly, there was none of this 21st century rhubarb.
panpete
Blokes name, birds body.
Poor Mr Graham. DWP treated him terribly, how did he starve to death when he could have got food from food banks?
Not blaming him, just wondering. I am obviously missing something.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
Where mental health issues are involved, it doesn't take much of the DWP's kind of Kafkaesque shit to leave people completely unable to cope.
Not to mention that the unrelenting narrative around benefits claimants can create great shame around the idea of asking for help.
panpete
Blokes name, birds body.
Thanks for elaborating for me. Poor chap.
Dystopiary
putting up a hook to hang my hopes upon
The family of Philippa Day, a mentally ill single mother who died from a deliberate overdose after her benefits were wrongly cut off, is to seek compensation from the government.
Philippa Day death: family launches legal challenge against DWP
Philippa Day death: family launches legal challenge against DWP
Disabled dad took his own life just hours after DWP suspended his benefits
WARNING - DISTRESSING CONTENT: Maxwell Quinton left a haunting note for his wife Andrina and son Harry begging them to “tell the benefit system what they are doing to people like me”
www.mirror.co.uk
Dystopiary
putting up a hook to hang my hopes upon
DWP’s ‘excruciating PIP assessment torture’ helped cause my son’s suicide, says disabled mum
A young disabled man took his own life, just weeks after the Department for Work and Pensions slashed his benefits, despite being warned he was severely depressed, malnourished, could not face leaving his flat, and had made several suicide attempts.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had been told by his parents in January 2019 that Ker Featherstone (pictured) had barely left his flat in two years, that he would often pass out when he stood up because of malnutrition, and even that his teeth had started to crumble.
The department was also told that his anxiety and depression were so severe that he could not cope with visits from his own brothers and sisters, and that he had not washed in nearly 18 months.
His disabled mother, Helen, spoke out publicly about her son’s death for the first time this week, inspired in part by the “amazing” efforts of Joy Dove.
Dove was in the high court last week to fight for a second inquest into the death of her disabled daughter, Jodey Whiting, who took her own life in 2017 after her benefits were removed.
A young disabled man took his own life, just weeks after the Department for Work and Pensions slashed his benefits, despite being warned he was severely depressed, malnourished, could not face leaving his flat, and had made several suicide attempts.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had been told by his parents in January 2019 that Ker Featherstone (pictured) had barely left his flat in two years, that he would often pass out when he stood up because of malnutrition, and even that his teeth had started to crumble.
The department was also told that his anxiety and depression were so severe that he could not cope with visits from his own brothers and sisters, and that he had not washed in nearly 18 months.
His disabled mother, Helen, spoke out publicly about her son’s death for the first time this week, inspired in part by the “amazing” efforts of Joy Dove.
Dove was in the high court last week to fight for a second inquest into the death of her disabled daughter, Jodey Whiting, who took her own life in 2017 after her benefits were removed.
Dystopiary
putting up a hook to hang my hopes upon
Jodey Whiting: Judge asks why DWP failed to ‘pick up a phone’ before claimant’s suicide
A high court judge has asked the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) why it did not take the “common sense” step of phoning a disabled woman with a long history of mental distress – who later took her own life – before it removed her benefits.
Mrs Justice Farbey, one of three high court judges who will decide whether there will be a second inquest into the death of Jodey Whiting in February 2017, suggested that the court might be able to “infer” from the evidence it had received that there was a “systemic” failure by DWP.
Whiting, a mother-of-nine and grandmother from Stockton-on-Tees, took her own life in February 2017, 15 days after she had her employment and support allowance (ESA) mistakenly stopped for missing a face-to-face work capability assessment.
But the original inquest into her death lasted just 37 minutes and did not investigate DWP’s role in her death.
.................................
According to DWP’s safeguarding procedures, the department should have contacted “vulnerable” claimants like Whiting by telephone if they missed their assessment, but a report by the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) later found no evidence that this had been done.
DWP should also have considered a safeguarding visit to her home, but again there was no evidence that this was done.
A high court judge has asked the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) why it did not take the “common sense” step of phoning a disabled woman with a long history of mental distress – who later took her own life – before it removed her benefits.
Mrs Justice Farbey, one of three high court judges who will decide whether there will be a second inquest into the death of Jodey Whiting in February 2017, suggested that the court might be able to “infer” from the evidence it had received that there was a “systemic” failure by DWP.
Whiting, a mother-of-nine and grandmother from Stockton-on-Tees, took her own life in February 2017, 15 days after she had her employment and support allowance (ESA) mistakenly stopped for missing a face-to-face work capability assessment.
But the original inquest into her death lasted just 37 minutes and did not investigate DWP’s role in her death.
.................................
According to DWP’s safeguarding procedures, the department should have contacted “vulnerable” claimants like Whiting by telephone if they missed their assessment, but a report by the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) later found no evidence that this had been done.
DWP should also have considered a safeguarding visit to her home, but again there was no evidence that this was done.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
The thing is, in the carefully cultivated court of opinion, this will count for nothing. She was already written off by virtue of the fact that she depended on benefits
Dystopiary
putting up a hook to hang my hopes upon
.
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Dystopiary
putting up a hook to hang my hopes upon
DWP silence over figures suggesting 50 deaths inquiries in just six months
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has refused to explain why it appears to have launched more than 50 secret reviews into the deaths of benefit claimants in just the first six months of this year.
This would be a huge increase on recent years, which have previously seen an average of less than 30 completed reviews a year.
[...]
Reynolds told DNS: “The sharp increase in internal process reviews is deeply troubling. Behind every number is a family who deserve answers.
“The government’s cruel assessment processes are having devastating consequences and questions need to be answered.
“How many reviews does it take before lessons are learnt and disabled people are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve?”
Last December, DNS reported how new analysis suggested that DWP was failing to investigate the suicides of hundreds of benefit claimants every year, despite the vital lessons it could learn from such inquiries.
Labour’s Debbie Abrahams, who has led parliamentary efforts to hold DWP to account on deaths linked to its actions, told work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey this week that she believed “we are really only scratching the surface of understanding both the scale and the causes” of such deaths.
She called on Coffey again to explain why she was refusing to set up an independent inquiry into deaths linked to DWP’s actions.
[...]
[W]hen pushed again by Abrahams over the need for an inquiry, she said: I don’t feel the need to undertake that.”
[...]
Her response comes despite DWP saying on its own website that it has set up a serious case panel, which first met in September 2019, to make recommendations “to address systemic issues identified from serious cases to prevent similar cases occurring in the future”.
Coffey’s claim of “continuous improvements” comes despite nearly a decade of high-profile tragedies, legal cases, campaigns, research, protests, television exposés, parliamentary debates, and reports by MPs and other organisations into deaths linked to the department’s “fitness for work” regime.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has refused to explain why it appears to have launched more than 50 secret reviews into the deaths of benefit claimants in just the first six months of this year.
This would be a huge increase on recent years, which have previously seen an average of less than 30 completed reviews a year.
[...]
Reynolds told DNS: “The sharp increase in internal process reviews is deeply troubling. Behind every number is a family who deserve answers.
“The government’s cruel assessment processes are having devastating consequences and questions need to be answered.
“How many reviews does it take before lessons are learnt and disabled people are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve?”
Last December, DNS reported how new analysis suggested that DWP was failing to investigate the suicides of hundreds of benefit claimants every year, despite the vital lessons it could learn from such inquiries.
Labour’s Debbie Abrahams, who has led parliamentary efforts to hold DWP to account on deaths linked to its actions, told work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey this week that she believed “we are really only scratching the surface of understanding both the scale and the causes” of such deaths.
She called on Coffey again to explain why she was refusing to set up an independent inquiry into deaths linked to DWP’s actions.
[...]
[W]hen pushed again by Abrahams over the need for an inquiry, she said: I don’t feel the need to undertake that.”
[...]
Her response comes despite DWP saying on its own website that it has set up a serious case panel, which first met in September 2019, to make recommendations “to address systemic issues identified from serious cases to prevent similar cases occurring in the future”.
Coffey’s claim of “continuous improvements” comes despite nearly a decade of high-profile tragedies, legal cases, campaigns, research, protests, television exposés, parliamentary debates, and reports by MPs and other organisations into deaths linked to the department’s “fitness for work” regime.
Dystopiary
putting up a hook to hang my hopes upon
[content note: suicide]
Clive’s mental health went on a steep decline after being wrongfully accused of fraud by the DWP in 2016. In 2017, he took his own life. This is his story, filmed in his flat, as told by his sister Trudi. #StopBenefitDeaths
Clive's Story
Clive’s mental health went on a steep decline after being wrongfully accused of fraud by the DWP in 2016. In 2017, he took his own life. This is his story, filmed in his flat, as told by his sister Trudi. #StopBenefitDeaths
Clive's Story
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