A vulnerable woman’s remains were found in her flat 3 years after death. Family blame social services for lack of support.
Laura was 41 years old when her remains were found. Relatives asked police to check on her because they were worried about her safety and well-being. An inquest was held at Surrey Coroner’s Court where the cause of death was listed as ‘unascertained.’ They could not determine the exact time of death, and her calendar stopped on November 1, 2017.
The coroner stated that agencies missed opportunities to help, including Woking Borough Council, New Vision Homes, the DWP, and Surrey County Council. The adult social care team contacted Laura in 2017, offering advice about food banks by phone and letter. However, the team did not visit her home.
The coroner called the team’s actions ‘perfunctory,’ but she could not say if those missed chances caused Laura’s death. The family’s lawyer said Laura starved to death and believes a visit in 2017 would have saved her. He stated she needed help that she did not receive, and her diary showed she could not manage by herself. A visit would have helped her survive, he added.
Diary entries showed Laura was running out of supplies, and her mobile phone stopped working on September 7, 2017; she had not bought groceries for months. Other entries said she ate potatoes and cheese. In October 2017, she had only five pounds and could not believe she had survived that long.
Her family last saw her face-to-face in 2009, and social media contact ended in 2014 because she asked for minimal contact. The family respected her wishes, thinking contact worsened her mental health. Her sister, Nicky, told this to the court. The family would check her car because her siblings knew schizophrenia made her scared and that she felt they would harm her.
They felt it was safest to stay away from her, hoping she would get proper support and be well again. Sadly, they never got close to Laura again, and she should not have died from mental illness. They hope her case brings changes to the system. The lawyer stated the family did try to help and sought support, but it was not enough. He said Laura’s death must cause change.
Surrey County Council apologized for the lack of support and sent their sympathies to Laura’s family, and they will now consider the coroner’s findings. The coroner said Woking Borough Council and the DWP should have helped more. The court heard Laura could not cope with a medical review. Still, the coroner could not definitively say if these missed opportunities led to her death.