Errol Graham RIP

stockhausen

stockhausen

stockhausen

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57 year old Errol Graham, a disabled man with a long history of mental illness starved to death just months after welfare officials stopped his out-of-work and housing benefits.

Errol Graham weighed just 28.5kg (four and a half stone) when he was found dead at home by bailiffs who had broken down his front door to evict him for not paying the rent on his Nottingham flat which had no gas or electricity supply and no food in the cupboards.

Errol Graham was not on Love Island.
Errol Graham was not a famous and much-loved musician
Errol Graham had been a keen amateur footballer - in his younger days.
Errol Graham probably didn't have much profile on Facebook, Twitter or other social media.
Errol Graham was an individual nobody, of no consequence.

Errol Graham was known to the authorities which had cut off his financial lifeline - because the
Department for Work and Pensions deemed him "fit to work".

All Errol Graham had was mental health problems.

Errol Graham didn't commit suicide, he was an "Individual", he was allowed to die by a selfish, shameless, uncaring "Society".

RIP Mr. Graham - sadly, you will soon be forgotten and lessons will not be learned.
 
Have you only just heard about this? It happened in June last year, i'm sure the DWP has killed a few more people since then.
 
Every time I see "Errol Graham has died" headlines or posts, I immediately think it's the former boxer Herol.

On topic, if you're going to build your welfare safety net with the overriding aim being to avoid anyone undeserving getting a free meal, then you are going to have to accept casualties in the margins. That's a moral choice that the government has taken.
 
Uther said:
Have you only just heard about this? It happened in June last year, i'm sure the DWP has killed a few more people since then.
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No, I heard about it some time ago. However, an inquest report was released recently - I think? Reading some of the comments in it is actually quite depressing - he died of "starvation" for God's sake :mad:

cheesyboy said:
. . .
On topic, if you're going to build your welfare safety net with the overriding aim being to avoid anyone undeserving getting a free meal, then you are going to have to accept casualties in the margins. That's a moral choice that the government has taken.
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I recognise that any rules or law are bound to have some unforeseen consequences; the issue here is the failure by various parties to identify that there was a problem here.

I have no doubt that the many people with whom Mr. Graham had contact (were just doing their jobs) were not inhuman and probably loved puppies and regularly helped little old ladies across busy roads but I think that there are two huge problems:
  1. "It's not my concern" - we live in a country where people increasingly don't want to make waves or get involved because of the possible consequences in a non-existent society where square pegs MUST fit into round holes, no matter how inadequate, defenceless, harmless and weak those peolpe may be.
  2. The Government is hell-bent on blindly rolling out a solution which appears not to be a solution at all and is now in a position where it is answerable to nobody.
I'm not going to post links to the various articles about this, if you can spare the time and have the interest, Google will help.

As to its being "a moral choice that the government has taken", I would question your use of the word "moral"; this is shameful.
 
stockhausen said:
he died of "starvation" for God's sake :mad:
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Over a period of some 8 months between loosing his benefits and eventually being found dead.

Sorry, but first thought that pops into my mind is I am wondering where all the family and friends who are now blaming the DWP were over this period and what they were doing about it?
 
stockhausen said:
As to its being "a moral choice that the government has taken", I would question your use of the word "moral"; this is shameful.
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Oh yes, I wasn't meaning that they had been moral with the choice, but rather that they had weighed up the morals and decided it was more important to cut down on freeloaders than to protect the vulnerable.

And I'm not supportive of that position at all.
 
Profile
Errol Graham's letter for welfare officials
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At the inquest into Errol Graham's death, the coroner, Elizabeth Didcock, said this handwritten letter was one of the few sources of information describing his state of mind in his last years. It was undated and never sent, but reads as if intended to be taken along to the work capability assessment that would decide whether he would remain eligible for disability unemployment benefit.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I’ve had to put in writing how I feel as I find it hard to express myself. I wish I could feel and function normally like anyone else but I find this very hard.

I can’t say I have a typical day because some are good, not many, clouded by very bad days. I get up as late as I can so that the day doesn’t seem too long. On a good day I open my curtains, but mostly they stay shut.

I find it hard to leave the house on bad days. I don’t want to see anyone or talk to anyone. It’s not nice living this way.

I’m afraid to put my heating on and sit with a quilt around me to keep me warm. I dread any mail coming, frightened of what it might be because I don’t have the means to pay and this is very distressing. Most days I go to bed hungry and I feel I’m not even surviving how I should be. Little things that people brush off are big things to me.

I have come on my own today because I have been unable to share how I feel with anyone because I don’t think they would understand. It has made me ill to come here today. It is a big ordeal for me.

My nerves are terrible and coping with this lifestyle wears me out. Sometimes I can’t stand to even hear the washing machine and I wish I knew why.

Being locked away in my flat I feel I don’t have to face anyone. At the same time, it drives me insane. I think I feel more secure on my own with my own company, but wish it wasn’t like that.

I’m not a drinker and have never been so don’t think that I’m here to abuse the system. Please judge me fairly. I am a good person but overshadowed by depression. All I want in life is to live normally. That would be the answer to my prayers.

Thank you to all for taking the time to read this letter, I really appreciate it. I don’t know how I’ll cope when I see you all. I hope I will be OK.
 
Where were his family, friends, neighbours? People like this are obviously going to struggle if they can't reach out and ask for help, they need support from people close to them. The government isn't some all seeing infallible entity that can keep an eye on everyone, nor should we expect it to be that, people need to help each other as well
 
Roar87 said:
Where were his family, friends, neighbours? People like this are obviously going to struggle if they can't reach out and ask for help, they need support from people close to them. The government isn't some all seeing infallible entity that can keep an eye on everyone, nor should we expect it to be that, people need to help each other as well
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Agreed but easier said than done. As a person who once suffered from depression I know how easy it is to start and disappear from your family and friends. Your friends stop asking you out anymore because you never turn up and make excuses. Its dead easy to fall into the trap where you are shut up at home and nobody ever comes round to see you anymore. I didnt go out for over 6 months.
 
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Roar87 said:
Where were his family, friends, neighbours? People like this are obviously going to struggle if they can't reach out and ask for help, they need support from people close to them. The government isn't some all seeing infallible entity that can keep an eye on everyone, nor should we expect it to be that, people need to help each other as well
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This. Can’t stand the way some people totally avail themselves of all responsibility and just finger point at the government. This is really little to do with the government. It’s a complete failure of all the family, friends and social services whose duty it was to personally help Mr Graham.
 
Roar87 said:
Where were his family, friends, neighbours? People like this are obviously going to struggle if they can't reach out and ask for help, they need support from people close to them. The government isn't some all seeing infallible entity that can keep an eye on everyone, nor should we expect it to be that, people need to help each other as well
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People with mental health problems often isolate themselves from family and friends - he may have cut off contact with them or just lied about his true state.

The purpose of the medical he will have undergone was to assess his physical AND mental state - as is usually the case though, the "healthcare professional" that worked for the subcontractor carrying out the assessment likely had no clue about mental health, no idea how to apply a set of criteria that is just not adequate to assess mental health or they had an agenda of their own.
 
[HB]Rugrat said:
People with mental health problems often isolate themselves from family and friends - he may have cut off contact with them or just lied about his true state.

The purpose of the medical he will have undergone was to assess his physical AND mental state - as is usually the case though, the "healthcare professional" that worked for the subcontractor carrying out the assessment likely had no clue about mental health, no idea how to apply a set of criteria that is just not adequate to assess mental health or they had an agenda of their own.
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Which then leads you back to the Government. It is afterall meant to be a safety net for when society fails to look after a person.
 
Friends soon drop you, whilst I would never class myself as being depressed, I went through a bad patch last year. The one person closest to me pretty much did a disappearing act.
That pretty much told me everything I needed to know about that person. I'm not saying everyone is like that, but a lot of people don't have the skills to deal with someone going through a hard time.

It's dead easy to look the other way.
 
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