'The state he was living in was shocking' - Disabled man in East Sussex dies in supported accommodation

Christopher Reader passed away in his supported accommodation in July this year at just 44 years old and his brother, Luke Ripley, from Eastbourne, is calling for an investigation into how he died.

Christopher was living with complex physical and mental needs including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe diabetes. He had been living in Arden House, a residential care home, for four years but by choice of social services he was moved to a supported accommodation in the last year of his life.

After his death, Christopher was cremated by a funeral director in East Sussex but Luke claims that neither him or his mother were contacted about this, which further worsened their distress.

Luke said: “According to Chris’s commissioned care plan, he was supposed to have assistance with domestic duties, prompting with medication and personal care. But when I saw the flat the state of the his living conditions were shocking.

"Me and my mum were just in shock because we trusted the care of social services.”

Luke is calling for an investigation into Chris’s living conditions and claims there were contractual breaches with the commissioned care plan he was assigned from East Sussex County Council.

Luke added: “It was just awful, Chris was severely diabetic but his fridge was empty and filthy with black mould. There wasn’t even a bed in the flat and he was forced to sleep on the floor. His boiler hadn’t been checked in three years and had been condemned so he had no heating or hot water.

"I’m not quite sure if they were even supporting him.”

Luke put all of his concerns towards East Sussex County Council in July when his brother passed away through a section 42 enquiry. This is a formal investigation commissioned by the local authority under the Care Act 2014 and is triggered when a ‘there is reasonable cause to suspect an adult with care and support needs is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect’.

However, Luke claims that he has still not received the feedback from the county council about the complaint. Luke’s request for an inquest into his brother’s death was denied by the East Sussex Coroner Service because it didn’t meet the threshold needed for an investigation to be opened.

Because of that Luke decided to get in touch with Eastbourne MP Josh Babarinde’s team to help his family acquire legal aide. A spokesperson for Josh’s team said: “We are working closely with the family’.

Luke added: “We want Josh Babarinde’s team to support us in getting legal support to help us challenge the coroner’s decision. He was on a lot of medication and we don’t know what was in his system.”

A spokesperson for East Sussex County Council said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Christopher. We can confirm that we have received an enquiry from the MP on the brother’s behalf, relating to Christopher’s time in supported accommodation.”