Search Results for “gran”
There are 14 results.
- You are currently searching All Media
Video:
in warrington, uk. a pensioner reportedly starved to death after her local council gave her a front door with no letterbox.
ivy allen, 79 - who had 10 children and 30 grandchildren - is thought to have been left penniless after her benefits book and giro cheques stopped arriving.
her emaciated body was found only when a housing official called at the one-bedroom council bungalow in warrington, cheshire, to check why she had not paid rent for six months.
the grandmother, who could not read or write, began having problems when her husband died in january, according to the daily mirror
care workers visited until april, but then she started to refuse help, the newspaper said.
two months later, she was admitted to hospital suffering malnutrition but apparently discharged herself without her family being informed.
the royal mail returned the benefits book and cheques to the pensions office after the front door was replaced and they were unable to deliver post.
but officials there reportedly failed to alert family or social workers that ivy had no income.
ivy's daughter sandra murphy, 42, told the mirror: "mum was always independent and social services were meant to be keeping an eye on her. they weren't.
"if we'd known her benefits were cut and the care visits had stopped, we would have been round there in a flash.''
warrington borough council said it had tried to put a letterbox on ivy's door but were not given access to carry out the work.
"people have a right to refuse help. while they are capable of making that decision, we are powerless to intervene,'' a spokeswoman told the paper.
the department of work and pensions is to launch an inquiry into the incident.
