Police reported their concerns to the council but it wasn't followed up.
A mentally ill woman was discovered in a "mummified, almost skeletal state" after lying dead for more than three years in her flat, her family say.
Laura Winham, 38, was "abandoned and left to die" by the NHS and social services before her body was found by her brother in May 2021, they claim.
She is thought to have died in November 2017 after being referred to social care twice in the previous years.
The NHS and Surrey Police have been contacted for comment.
Surrey County Council said it was a "truly tragic case" and that it would provide information for an upcoming inquest into the death. Ms Winham, who had schizophrenia, lived in social housing in Woking, Surrey, and had become estranged from her family.
In 2014, a referral was made to Woking Community Mental Health Recovery and her GP, flagging that she appeared to have "untreated mental health issues", her family said. This was not followed up.
After visiting Ms Winham in October 2017, in what was probably the last time anyone saw her alive, Surrey Police officers reported to Surrey County Council that she had been "self-neglecting, had little food, and appeared unaware of how to access local services for help".
Shortly after this visit, the markings on Ms Winham's calendar stopped. One of the last entries read: "I need help." ...
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-surrey-64400776
If she was on benefits and the ones for disabled people where they don't make the claimant jump through hoops/sanction them for looking at someone funny, chances are rent and council tax kept being paid..?So, presumably the rent and bills were paid by direct debt and she had plenty in the bank?
Inside the tidy one-bed flat, police found the remains of 58-year-old medical secretary Sheila Seleoane. She was little more than a skeleton, dressed in blue pyjama bottoms and a white top. The police did not consider the death suspicious.
Inside the fridge, a trifle dessert gave an indication of how long her body had lain there. It had gone out of date two-and-a-half years earlier.
For Sheila's neighbours, it had been obvious for a long time that something was wrong.
Weeks after Sheila is thought to have died in August 2019, Chantel, who lived in the flat directly below, changed her light bulbs. As she removed the old bulb, a pile of maggots fell from the ceiling. In the weeks that followed, the problem only got worse.
Residents in a south London block are considering legal action against the housing association Peabody after their neighbour lay dead for two and a half years before her body was found - despite their efforts to raise the alarm. How could someone remain undiscovered for so long?
This is a horrible case. A womans body is left undiscovered for 2 and a half years despite multiple phone calls for neighbours to the housing association, Peabody complaining of maggots, the smell of death and obvious signs that this women was no longer living in her flat. Instead of checking up on her, Peabody simply applied for benefits to cover her rent when it stopped being paid. When she didn't answer the door to get a gas safety check they arranged to have her gas cut off...
Maybe but the Housing Association should have called the police (they eventually did at one point). Simply cutting off her gas, applying to collect her rent via benefits and ignoring complaints of a dead person in the building is so far beyond unacceptable I can't even find a word for it. Besides, the residents may well have their own reasons for not wanting to call the police.To be honest, if I was really seriously concerned about the welfare of a neighbour, I'm not sure that approaching the landlord would be my first choice. Although the police's powers in relation to welfare checks are limited, I believe entry can be forced if it's considered to be an emergency. A landlord's right of entry without agreement is very limited. They too have some leeway in what might be considered emergency situations - but I suspect the notification to decision to action process is more legally straightforward for the police.
That was my first thought too. Calling the police would take priority over calling the landlord.To be honest, if I was really seriously concerned about the welfare of a neighbour, I'm not sure that approaching the landlord would be my first choice. Although the police's powers in relation to welfare checks are limited, I believe entry can be forced if it's considered to be an emergency. A landlord's right of entry without agreement is very limited. They too have some leeway in what might be considered emergency situations - but I suspect the notification to decision to action process is more legally straightforward for the police.
I mean, I wouldn't call the landlord first if my neighbour's house was on fire, or if I found them collapsed on the hallway - similarly, I'm not sure they'd be my first port of call in this situation.
To be honest, if I was really seriously concerned about the welfare of a neighbour, I'm not sure that approaching the landlord would be my first choice. Although the police's powers in relation to welfare checks are limited, I believe entry can be forced if it's considered to be an emergency. A landlord's right of entry without agreement is very limited. They too have some leeway in what might be considered emergency situations - but I suspect the notification to decision to action process is more legally straightforward for the police.
I mean, I wouldn't call the landlord first if my neighbour's house was on fire, or if I found them collapsed on the hallway - similarly, I'm not sure they'd be my first port of call in this situation.
Audrey says the neighbours did everything they could to raise the alarm and describes being repeatedly reassured when she called Peabody's customer care line that someone would investigate.
"That's the one thing that I regret - that I believed Peabody. I regret not calling the police sooner, because I just trusted that they were going to do something."
A year after she died, Peabody did eventually visit the block in response to the neighbours' complaints. It asked the police to check on Sheila but when officers knocked on her door and no-one answered, it decided it didn't have enough justification to knock it down.
Crucially, a mistake by the police operator meant a false message was sent to Peabody saying Sheila had been seen alive and well. It would be another 16 months before Sheila's body would be discovered. The Metropolitan Police apologised and said if the operator responsible had not since retired, he would have been referred for an investigation.
Some years ago I was in a similar position, an elderly neighbour hadn't been seen for a couple of days and wasn't answering the door. The details are a bit fuzzy now, this would have been in the early 1990s, but I think I called the emergency services, certainly not the council or landlord. I can't remember the exact course of events but it ended with a GP asking me to help force entry - we broke a glass pane on the front door, and then reached in to open it from the inside, we heard a feeble voice from upstairs crying out "Go away! Leave me alone!". At this point, I left it to the GP but later heard that the lady no longer wanted to live, and was lying on the floor covered in her own filth, the GP called an ambulance and had her admitted to hospital but she soon died.To be honest, if I was really seriously concerned about the welfare of a neighbour, I'm not sure that approaching the landlord would be my first choice. Although the police's powers in relation to welfare checks are limited, I believe entry can be forced if it's considered to be an emergency. A landlord's right of entry without agreement is very limited. They too have some leeway in what might be considered emergency situations - but I suspect the notification to decision to action process is more legally straightforward for the police.
I mean, I wouldn't call the landlord first if my neighbour's house was on fire, or if I found them collapsed on the hallway - similarly, I'm not sure they'd be my first port of call in this situation.
You did the right thing.Some years ago I was in a similar position, an elderly neighbour hadn't been seen for a couple of days and wasn't answering the door. The details are a bit fuzzy now, this would have been in the early 1990s, but I think I called the emergency services, certainly not the council or landlord. I can't remember the exact course of events but it ended with a GP asking me to help force entry - we broke a glass pane on the front door, and then reached in to open it from the inside, we heard a feeble voice from upstairs crying out "Go away! Leave me alone!". At this point, I left it to the GP but later heard that the lady no longer wanted to live, and was lying on the floor covered in her own filth, the GP called an ambulance and had her admitted to hospital but she soon died.
Surely the smell alone would have been a pretty obvious sign?Here is a quote from one of the neighbours.
Then the first time the police went they didn't try to gain entry and simply reported that Ms Seleoane was still alive.
But sure, blame the neighbours.
It was to the neighbours but everyone ignored them.Surely the smell alone would have been a pretty obvious sign?
Is that even legal? To get that done, some jiggery-pokery must happen.Lack of rent payments? They contacted the benefit office and unilaterally appplied for (and got) the rent payments paid directly from her benefits. Asl ong as they got their money, they didn't care why she'd stopped paying.
That's bloody awful.It is legal?
Yup. The theory is that the landlord can say they made repeated attempts to contact the tenant regarding the arrears with no success. They go to magistrates court (I think) for an order to recover the money; if the tenant is paid via Universal Credit then the court 'awards' the tenant to pay a regular sum directly from their benefits.
I don't know this for certain but I think that's how it could be done.
Oh, I agree. I dunno what they're like now but there was a Peabody block along from where I lived in Earls Court and a friend of mine's parents lived in a Peabody flat in Hammersmith. That was a couple of decades now, mind.Clearly Peabody royally fucked this particular case - they've admitted as much; but, if they still work the way they used to, then I doubt they are anywhere near the worst landlord a Londoner could have.
I agree, in my experience landlords are the last people to approach - their concern is for themselves, whether they would face legal problems, etc.To be honest, if I was really seriously concerned about the welfare of a neighbour, I'm not sure that approaching the landlord would be my first choice. Although the police's powers in relation to welfare checks are limited, I believe entry can be forced if it's considered to be an emergency. A landlord's right of entry without agreement is very limited. They too have some leeway in what might be considered emergency situations - but I suspect the notification to decision to action process is more legally straightforward for the police.
I mean, I wouldn't call the landlord first if my neighbour's house was on fire, or if I found them collapsed on the hallway - similarly, I'm not sure they'd be my first port of call in this situation.