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Search failed to find body in bathroom
Hostel tenant missing for days
HOSTEL staff searching a one-bedroom flat for a missing tenant failed to spot his dead body lying in the bathroom, an inquest has heard.
Support worker Theresa Plange, who worked at St Mungo’s Hostel, in Hampstead Road, Regent’s Park, twice visited Theophylus Ryan’s flat but failed to find his body. She is no longer employed by the hostel.
The inquest heard Ms Plange failed to check Mr Ryan’s bathroom when searching his flat at the hostel after realising he was missing for seven days.
Colleague Ken Obeng, who accompanied her, told a St Pancras inquest on Tuesday: “When we went to the room there was no strong smell to encourage us to look further.”
Ms Plange returned three days later but left when there was no response.
The body of Mr Ryan, a 90-year-old father of 11 who suffered from chronic paranoid schizophrenia, was finally discovered behind his bathroom door on March 7 – 13 days after he was last seen.
Although the hostel had a tracking system where a card was marked each time a tenant was seen, prompting a call to police if someone was missed for five days, Ms Plange did not alert authorities following either of her visits to Mr Ryan’s home.
Mr Obeng described the first flat search with Ms Plange: “She said he wasn’t here so it appeared he wasn’t in. I’m not sure why the bathroom wasn’t looked at. I personally wasn’t required to take any action so I got on with my work and left her to get on with hers.”
Mr Ryan’s sister Mildred said: “I find it hard to believe nobody knew he was dead in his room for so long. He’s there under care because he obviously can’t care for himself.”
She asked Mr Obeng: “Why did you not check the whole flat? Isn’t that the point of having sheltered housing, because they are vulnerable clients?”
Jim Doyle, St Mungo’s manager, said: “If after five days that person hasn’t been seen I expect the police to be called. We’d have expected on March 2, she (Ms Plange) would have contacted police or conducted a more thorough search.”
He said agency workers were on duty because some staff were on leave.
Mr Ryan was last seen on February 23, when he told his key worker, Melese Woldegiorghs, he was suffering from shortness of breath.
Hostel manager Callum Freeman said: “We had an investigation into this and, following that, Theresa no longer works with us. There’s a duty of care to our clients and we’re all accountable if procedures aren’t followed.”
Coroner Dr Andrew Reid said: “The person who had responsibility did not notice or realise Mr Ryan hadn’t been seen for some days.
“Certainly some concern should have been raised when he hadn’t been seen by the 28th.”
He said the cause of death was unascertainable, adding: “He had been dead for days, bordering on weeks.”
Ms Plange did not appear at the inquest but gave a written statement to the court.
A St Mungo’s spokeswoman said: “We were shocked and saddened by Theo Ryan’s untimely death.”
Verdict: open. |
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