Bristol woman lay dead in flat for 18 months
A woman found dead in her flat in Bristol could have been lying there undiscovered for up to 18 months.
Believed to be a schizophrenic, the woman's disappearance in 2007 appears to have gone unchecked by housing association officials and mental health workers, despite neighbours raising concerns.
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Residents living in Tufton Avenue, Lawrence Weston, named her as Helena Pugh, a mental health patient. Officials have yet to formally identify the body.
Believed to be in her 50s, she was found in the living room of her two-bedroom flat on Monday.
Police are not currently treating the death as suspicious, although a post-mortem examination has so far been unable to determine a cause of death because the body was so badly decomposed.
Sources close to the investigation confirmed she could have died up to 18 months ago.
Neighbours have told how she would regularly refuse to allow care workers and housing association officials into her property and rarely had any visitors.
It is thought she may have a sister, although residents said she had never been seen at the property. Police have yet to track down any next of kin. None of the residents whose flats front onto the same corridor as hers reported noticing a smell or a build up of post.
A neighbour living in the flat below told how he last remembered seeing her on the balcony of her flat, owned by the Guinness Hermitage housing association, in August 2007.
Mature student Nicholas Turner, 47, said: "I first raised concerns with Guinness Hermitage towards the end of 2007, but was told they were unable to gain access to the flat because it was against the law.
"I thought she might have disappeared or have been sectioned – she really wasn't very well.
"That woman should never have been allowed to live on her own. When I last saw her, she looked very ill. She would regularly throw her rubbish in my front garden, shout and swear at the top of her voice whenever she saw people, so I tried to avoid a confrontation by not speaking to her.
"I would often hear her smashing things and on some occasions even heard her growling like a dog.
"She shouldn't have been left to live in the community without someone regularly checking on her.
"She has been let down by the system, which is a shame because if she had been given the right care she may still be alive today."
It is thought a plumber sent round to carry out a check on the gas boiler may have raised the alarm. By law, rented properties need to have a gas safety check carried out every year.
Pensioner Pat Korthals, 72, has lived in the block of flats for more than a decade and also thought her neighbour had been sectioned.
She said: "She was sectioned once before – so I just assumed she been taken away again. When the police told me she had died, I was in complete shock. I can't believe she's been up there all this time.
"I think I last saw her in September or October 2007. I remember her coming down the stairs in her dressing gown. She shouldn't have been living here on her own. You have to ask why she wasn't being regularly checked up on."
Resident Dick Clark, 52, also remembered last seeing her in 2007.
He said: "She was very aggressive towards everyone and to be honest I stayed out of her way as much as possible.
"I thought she had been moved on and didn't really think anything else about it until now.
"This just proves that care in the community doesn't work. No one in the community is qualified to look after people who have such severe mental health difficulties."
Mental health patients living in the community in Bristol often come under the care of the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. A spokesman said he was unable to comment because the body had not yet been formally identified.
Police said they were treating the death as "unexplained".
Wayne Baker, an Avon and Somerset police spokesman, said: "A post mortem examination has been carried out but the cause of death has not been established."
A spokeswoman for Guinness Hermitage housing trust said: "We made repeated visits to the property over the last 18 months to try to make contact with the resident."
21 Comments
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by jessica, bristol/shirehampton
Friday, February 27 2009, 6:47PM
“umm i think i no who i am. im patricia korthals grandaughter. im jessica thomson.”
by gerry, bristol
Friday, February 27 2009, 5:47PM
“I think Jess is not who she say's she is.”
by jessica, BRISTOL lawrence weston
Friday, February 27 2009, 3:22PM
“to Jeff D, Southville again,
hey yea sorry i didnt understand what you were saying.
i have not seen her it was my nan as she tells me.
she sed she seen her around about 18 months about 16-18 months.
this is a mystery. so sad for her
R.I.P
we dont think she was luked after properly, the world dont care nowadays.
R.I.P”
by Jeff D, Southville
Friday, February 27 2009, 10:19AM
“To jessica thomson, lawrence weston again.
In your previous post you siad "I always go up my nans flat all the time", so what I meant was when did you last see her alive? NOT when you were last there. Wasn't that obvious?
If you've actually seen her recently, as you've suggested, where did they get all this nonsense about being dead for 18 months, bless her soul.”
by jessica thomson, BRISTOL lawrence weston
Friday, February 27 2009, 9:07AM
“to,
Jeff D, Southville,
i last visited yesterdaii i been up there all week when the police was there i can only tell them as much as my nan. we thought she had no family. we also thought that she has just gone because she dissaperead before and come back. my nan seen her when she sed up in the bit above and the man living above my nan seen her the same day.
i would not have known when shepassed aways sorry beause when my nan said she seen her i thought shes ok so no one really worried about it.
but obviously my opinion i think that she thought no one cared about her. i mean she didnt go out of the flat if she was in there at the time, because my nan would have seen her coe out. she must have starved to death or something. my nan didnt see her come back or any of the tenants living there. so no one could have known. but its just strange the way where no one noticed i mean there was a wman enquiring 2 weeks before thishappened. she came around asking if we knew where she was. i didnt no who this woman was but she had a bried case?
anyay r.i.p.
so sad”
by Dissy, Wiltshire
Friday, February 27 2009, 12:56AM
“I pray that this poor Lady did not suffer..her Landlords COULD have entered her Home if the right proceedures were followed..I live alone and dread the same thing happening especially as I am Disabled and have no support..but, at least I am alive even if I am waiting for the same Landlords as in Bristol to come and do Repairs..the Flat above me has been empty for nearly 5 years yet still had a Tenancy allowed to go on..that hadn't had a proper Inspection in all that time and was a TIP when the Landlords finally got it back....in Bristol, this is a LIFE that has been neglected..shame on you Guinness and...Social Services too..my heart goes out to the Family & Friends of the Lady..what is this country coming to when it spends Millions on Troops in Iraq yet doesn't care about it's own Citizens or......Tenants Rights ??....”
by miss j, at home
Thursday, February 26 2009, 8:34PM
“i guess benifits paid it ..and this is a case that no one cared about lady .. she made people cross sso forgot about her. i guess people can do so much. i do not see any one very much why i live and liv e with my son alone....i guess we know we are ok by the cars going in and out in the day. its a very sad sorry ...its very hard to care for someone if they do not let you ..rip”
by Jeff D, Southville
Thursday, February 26 2009, 7:41PM
“To jessica thomson, lawrence weston
So when did you last visit Jess?
Have you told the authorities?
You may be able to help in determining when she passed away.”
by jessica thomson, BRISTOL lawrence weston
Thursday, February 26 2009, 6:45PM
“hey im pat korthals grandaughter. my names jess. i cant believe this has happened. i always go up my nans flat all the time and no one can smell any thing. she couldnt hve been up there that long.
r.i.p
i cant believe the guisness trust didnt say any thing or do any thing. i mean if someone doesnt pay rent or anything then surely they must of done something. i feel so sad for this woman. she was a bit you no, but i will miss the loud music used to play. r.i.p.
some one should have dealt with this.”
by Catherine, Chipping Sodbury
Thursday, February 26 2009, 6:29PM
“I felt so so saddened reading about this poor woman. Why on earth didn't social services and her mental health team realise there was something wrong? For her own good she should have been sectioned and treated in hospital. Sometimes taking a patient's word that they are ok isn't enough and the authorities need to intervene ...surely this was a case when that applied? Sadly it won't bring this lady back and I hope she's at peace now.”