kdsd77

Thank you to everyone for the kind words and most importantly, the understanding. It has all come to an end and we can now go back to making our home as it was, a place of laughter, fun and love. Richard will be remembered for who he was before all this and not as he was when this story came out. I love my estate, the people on it and so do my children. Lovely neighbours like Shirley are the reason we refuse to be moved or re-housed. There are too many positives and this is just a growth period in our lives to teach us compassion, caring and for me strength. I am grateful for people with big hearts as most people have proven to be and I can say no more than thank you again for all the support.

That is how I feel. Guilt that I didn't get to him sooner. Guilt that my desire to highlight the laidback attitudes of housing associations has become this story of disgust. I feel no way about what this has done to me but I feel bad that his family and friends have found out because of news stories doing their rounds. It has all ended with next of kin been found and I am happy to let it end there. May Richard and his family find peace.

Southern Housing does not own all the properties on the estate. Some are privately owned, some are sheltered homes and the rest are the housing association's properties.

I am the mother of four and unfortunately for my family and I this story has become something it was never meant to be. I knew Richard in passing for as long as we lived here and Tayo knew more about him than I did. My horror was not about the source of the maggots, my distress was initially about maggots that seemed to appear from nowhere in numbers. The papers failed to mention I spent all weekend trying to get someone to check on my next door neighbour and that I called the police on the Saturday. I was distraught when I discovered what happened to him and somehow believed I could have saved him even though I was away when he may have passed on. There was no smell until the Monday we found him, he was very private and I did all I could to get someone to check in on him. This story was meant to be about Richard and how he was alone, it was meant to highlight the incompetence and lack of care of the Housing Association. It was not about me, the maggots or my disgust. Had I been so disgusted, I would have left my house and demanded compensation and all the other things ppl do in this compensation society. I stayed to keep my home clean and to make sure that Richard gets a decent burial and his personal belongings do not get get discarded as if he meant nothing. He deserves better than just being the deceased man in my story. I hope that clarifies things.