By James Simons-
The family of a woman found dead after a Romford house fire has likened her treatment before the blaze to “torture”.
Mrs Wolff (pictured) was found dead at her home in Myrtle Road after firefighters were called in the early hours of January 11, and her son. Gary Parkin has accused the council of leaving her to fend for herself, despite suffering from dementia.
A hearing over the death of Rosslyn Wolff, 74, heard her relatives asked a coroner to investigate whether she was failed by Havering Council and the NHS.
Anger in the family over her death and the alleged negligence of the council has made the family’s mourning a lot worse.
An inquest which began last Thursday was postponed due to waiting reports, yet to be produced by the Met Police, London Fire Brigade or the NHS- further upsetting the bereaved relatives of Ms Woolf.
A preliminary police report said there was nothing to suggest third-party involvement in the fire, but the cause of the fire remains unknown.
The fire brigade have declined to publicly reveal the cause of the fire until the inquest – which, the court heard, could be another five months away”
“She refused a care package,” Mr Parkin said. “But she wasn’t well.”
Mr Parkin told The Eye Of Media.Com that his mother was left to make decisions one would expect of a competent normal adult, despite displaying symptoms of dementia, and being sectioned for mental health.
”Havering Council were very incompetent in the way they handled my mother’s case, a grieving Mr Parkin said. They did not even give her a capacity test, what kind of professionals working in council have an elderly woman in her care, showing all the symptoms of dementia, and don’t even give her a capacity test?
‘They failed her in every respect, and should be ashamed of themselves.
“She wasn’t able to look after herself.”
“There was human excrement on the floor, it was an awful mess. The place was filled with mice and rats. There was a lot of rubbish and food containers piled high, she was obviously neglected.
I repeatedly contacted Havering Council, responsible for adult social care in the borough.
“I kept raising and raising and raising concerns because she was losing weight,” said Mr Parkin. “She was like a skeleton by the last few weeks.”
“She refused a care package,” Mr Parkin said. “But she wasn’t well.”
”We are exploring all potential legal avenues, we are looking into everything this , because this was really horrible. The sad thing is that councils and organizations who mess up in this way always seek to cover up themselves’.
‘Torture’
Mrs Wolff’s family has made several requests, Mr Irvine told the court, including that the inquest be held before a jury.
The coroner said while he had not made a final decision, he did not feel the threshold for a jury inquest had been met.
He agreed it would be necessary to hold another pre-inquest review to hear submissions on whether the inquest should consider Article Two of the European Convention of Human Rights, which places a duty on the state to protect life.
Article 2 inquests to deaths generally pertain to deaths which occur while a person is detained in a prison or a hospital, but there is precedent for Article Two inquests to investigate deaths in the community following discharge by a medical authority.
Mrs Wolff’s family asked for the inquest to consider whether Article 3 has also been breached.
“[Mr Parkin] feels that the treatment that Mrs Wolff had in her life was akin to torture and at the very least was inhumane,” he said.
But, he added: “The duty of the state to prevent inhumane treatment is not something that has been determined to have an effect upon the management of an inquest.”
NELFT said it was “deeply saddened” by Mrs Wolff’s death and extended its condolences to her loved ones.
“We are cooperating fully with the coroner’s independent investigation and inquest,” it said.
Havering Council was contacted for comment, but had no response.