Maggots falling through ceiling in East Dulwich were from dead body

[teddyt]

Anyone read about this?

MailOnline:

Mother-of-four's horror at discovering maggots infesting her home were a result of a dead body

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2773425/Mother-fours-home-infested-maggots-DEAD-BODY-decomposing-upstairs-flat.html

[steveo]

Dawson's Heights

[newboots]

That's a really sad story. Is it really necessary to copy the Daily Mail's cheap & nasty sensationalist style of journalism with your DEAD BODY though? The dead body belonged to someone who died alone. It seems disrespectful to talk about it in a horrified way.

[newboots]

Thank you for editing.

[muffins78]

That's incredibly sad and delivered in a really unsympathetic way. He was very young too, not that it matters in terms of what the heart of the story should have been about.

It's really important to look out for our neighbours. That's really what the story should be about.

[Jah Lush]

Very sad story. Poor man. May he rest in peace.

[Jah Lush]

From the ITV website.

Friends of Sergeant Richard Williams said he was a 'generous and caring' former Royal Engineer who dedicated 20 years of his life to serving in the army.

One of his close friends criticised housing association staff for not checking in on him sooner, and said he could have been found earlier had they taken swifter action.

The friend, who did not want to be named, said:

"He was a very generous and caring person, who would travel half way across the country if a friend needed him.

He had medical retirement because of illness but doctors never got to the bottom of it.

They thought it was Lyme disease or MS, but they never worked it out.

I saw him a few weeks ago - it must have been a few days before he died - and he said he was on new medication and was feeling much better. He took my dogs on a two hour walk.

Everyone knew he was ill. I think someone should have checked earlier - if only for the woman who lived below him.

It's supposed to be warden flats."

? Anonymous friend

[intexasatthe moment]

Terribly sad that someone has died like this .

But I can't stop thinking about the impact on the family below . I'm sure many local people know the lovely Tayo and his family from his sporting/coaching activities ( swimming ,Wing Chun ? ) and it seems to bring the impact closer to home .

Very sad all round .

[Zebedee Tring]

I'm concerned that the story should have concentrated on the feelings of the "mother of four" (typical Mailspeak) and not on the plight of the poor bloke who died. I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised as the Mail is the embodiment of the world of Margaret "No Such Thing As Society" Thatcher.

That's not to say that this wasn't a very upsetting experience for the family below.

[Robert Poste's Child]

I agree, ZT, though I wonder if she may feel she has been presented unsympathetically as the DM has made it look as if she's more concerned about her rights than what happened to her poor neighbour, which is probably not the case.

[Loz]

Zebedee Tring Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I'm concerned that the story should have concentrated on the feelings of the "mother of

> four" (typical Mailspeak) and not on the plight of the poor bloke who died. I suppose that I

> shouldn't be surprised as the Mail is the embodiment of the world of Margaret "No Such Thing

> As Society" Thatcher.

Urgh, I hate to come in on the Mail's side here, but this just sounds like you would criticise the Mail, no matter what angle they took here.

[pinecone]

agree Loz.

[Zebedee Tring]

Not true, Loz. I would praise the Mail if they advocated renationalising the railways and top rate tax at 60%.

[Otta]

But ZT is right Loz, the story did totally miss the point, the poor dead guy was barely mentioned. Also agree with RPD that the story makes the "mother of 4" sound like a bit of a selfish cow, whereas I'm sure that's not the case.

[Zebedee Tring]

I praised the Daily Mail when they named the killers of Stephen Lawrence and dared the buggers to sue them. There again I do remember (only after the event because I wasn't born at the time) their headline "Hooray For The Blackshirts!" For those not familiar with the history of the 30s, the Blackshirts was not the nickname of a First Division football team but of a political party who were somewhat right of centre.

[Mick Mac]

If you google it seems most of the papers covered this story not just the mail.

I think the point being made is that the Council did not take a blind bit of notice of the problem when it was highlighted to them.

Personally... if someone is dead they are dead and that's that, I feel for the family with young children, knowing that those maggots were eating a human body is pretty gross and I think they (especially the children) are right to be horrified.

[Loz]

Otta Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> But ZT is right Loz, the story did totally miss the point, the poor dead guy was barely mentioned.

> Also agree with RPD that the story makes the "mother of 4" sound like a bit of a selfish cow,

> whereas I'm sure that's not the case.

Probably my fault for cutting the quote badly, but it was more the incongruous Maggie canard on the end. It read like, "I can't believe the Mail gave X as man of the match. But what do you expect for a paper that supported the Blackshirts a century ago?"

[Zebedee Tring]

Loz, to me there is more of a link between (a) the idea that "there is no such thing as society" (Maggie's notorious saying) and the Mail almost ignoring the fact that this bloke's neighbours had no idea that he'd been dead for some time than between (b) a newspaper's choice of a man of the match and its support of the Blackshirts.

Anyway the Mail can on occasion do good. As I said, they did support the Lawrence family, something that I can't imagine the Blackshirts doing.

[Loz]

Zebedee Tring Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Loz, to me there is more of a link between (a) the

> idea that "there is no such thing as society"

> (Maggie's notorious saying) and the Mail almost

> ignoring the fact that this bloke's neighbours had

> no idea that he'd been dead for some time than

> between (b) a newspaper's choice of a man of the

> match and its support of the Blackshirts.

Disagree. In the case of the dead man, both were pretty unpleasant parts of a single incident. In this case, the Mail found a different angle to others. You can, as Otta has done, argue that one angle is better/more appropriate than the other, but comparing the alternative angle to a howling attack on 'society' is a little OTT.

Besides, Maggie's 'notorious saying' needs to be taken in full context. It's a bit like saying Zebedee Tring posted there is "no such thing as society" in their post at 11.29 - true, but rather out of context. When you read Maggie's whole paragraph, what she said in whole wasn't really that controversial. In fact, you could easily argue that what she said sums up to 'from each according to ability, to each according to need'. (Now that's controversial!)

[numbers]

What Loz said. That whole Maggie thing has always been taken out of context.

Zebedee - by all means criticise the Mail and the article about this poor man but it seems like you only wrote your post in order to have a pop at Ma Thatcher. That is the way it comes across to me anyway.

[kdsd77]

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.

[TillieTrotter]

Since when do housing associations pop in to check on their tennants? This is surely a lack of care from friends/family. If this guy was that nice a bloke that he'd travel from one end of the country to another to help a friend, it's a damn shame on his friends that the love wasn't reciprocated.

[TillieTrotter]

I've just re read Jah Lush's post and seen that it was sheltered accommodation so retract my statement. Friends/family point still stands though. A very sad story all round.

[intexasatthe moment]

The report says sheltered housing but I think that's incorrect . No sheltered housing at Dawsons Heights as far as I know . And I don't think a 49 year old ,even if medically retired ,would be in sheltered accomodation .

Could be wrong ,but I think it's just an error .

[kdsd77]

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.