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A man was found starved to death weighing five stone just months after the government stopped his disability benefit.

Errol Graham, 57, was found dead on the floor of his 15th-storey Nottingham council flat when bailiffs broke down his door.

An inquest heard he was emaciated, weighed 30kg and had just a couple of five-year-old tins of fish in his cupboard.

The football-loving grandad-of-two had his Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) stopped eight months earlier after he failed to attend a fit-for-work test.

A coroner heard Mr Graham, who had serious mental health difficulties including long-term depression, did not respond to follow-up messages or visits.

His daughter-in-law is now fighting for justice - and holds health officials and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) responsible.

(Image: Errol Graham)

The DWP has launched a probe into the case but has not acknowledged wrongdoing. The coroner could not say the benefit change directly led to Mr Graham's death.

But Alison Turner, 31, said the DWP's policies "killed" her father-in-law, telling the Mirror: "I want a guarantee that he wasn't going to die for no reason - that they will see his death, take on board the seriousness of what they've done and learn from it.

"I don't believe they will. But that is all I want.

"I want them to learn so that nobody else has to die."

She added: "The flaws in their system - this is why I'm so angry with the DWP. They looked me in my face and had the cheek to tell me that everything they did was by the book and was acceptable. None of it was acceptable."

Labour MP Debbie Abrahams demanded an urgent independent inquiry into deaths of people whose benefits were stopped.

Raising Mr Graham's death in Parliament on Monday, she warned there were other similar cases - including Jodey Whiting who took her own life after her ESA was stopped in 2017.

(Image: Evening Gazette)

But Tory minister Justin Tomlinson replied by saying the fit-for-work test was "Labour's Work Capability Assessment".

Saying the DWP is working with the Royal College of Psychiatrists to train staff, he added: "We commissioned five independent reviews [of the fit-for-work test] and implemented over 100 recommendations."

DWP chiefs have referred former carer Mr Graham's death to a Serious Case Panel - a system established last year to ensure decisions are appropriate.

A spokesman said it would include "independent members", but officials later clarified this actually meant DWP staff who were "independent of the case". Members will be senior civil servants from across the department.

An inquest into Mr Graham's death was held in June 2019 and came to light when his family spoke to the Disability News Service.

In a written summary of the inquest findings, Assistant Coroner Elizabeth Didcock said: "I cannot say on a balance of probabilities that the cessation of Errol’s ESA led directly to his death.

"But I do think the sudden loss of all income, and the threat of eviction that followed from it, will have caused huge distress and worry, and significant financial hardship.

(Image: Parliament TV)

"I do not believe Errol had any other source of money to buy food or other provisions, nor to pay for utilities."

The coroner added: "It is likely that this loss of income, and housing, were the final and devastating stressors, that had a significant effect on his mental health."

Liverpool FC-supporting Mr Graham was "outgoing" before his depression worsened after his dad's death in 2005.

He was seen "shouting and behaving aggressively" at his GP surgery in April 2015 and sectioned two months later.

After that Ms Turner said he "shut me out" and she last saw him in 2016, despite repeated attempts to make contact.

The coroner heard Mr Graham last saw his GP in mid-2015 and failed to attend future appointments.

(Image: Parliament TV)

She found Mr Graham's GP practice "did not have a robust system in place" to ensure he turned up - branding it a "clear failing".

The spiral towards losing his benefits began on 31 August 2017, when he failed to attend a fit-for-work test for his ESA.

The DWP sent Mr Graham reminders in September and October 2017 asking why he did not attend - but had no reply.

Benefit officers then carried out two "safeguarding visits" at his home on 16 October and 17 October - again with no reply.

But the coroner wrote that his ESA ended from 10 October, some days earlier.

His housing benefit was stopped as a result, cutting off his rent and prompting bailiffs to break down his front door on 20 June 2018.

(Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

His family were unsure when he was last seen, but the inquest heard it was "perhaps some four weeks" before his death.

Mr Graham's daughter-in-law told the Mirror: "He had always plodded along as long as he got the financial support needed.

"From 2015 onwards, the system really failed him."

She added: "Errol in my mind demonstrated the classic signs of deterioration in mental health. And not one of these people thought 'eh up, something's not right here'.

"Somewhere along the line, somebody should have noticed something."

Ms Turner accused the DWP of failing to heed warnings from coroners in two previous cases.

(Image: PA Archive/Press Association Images)

She added: "If they'd done [that], Errol would be ill - but I guarantee he would still be here."

The coroner last June said there were "missed opportunities" to help Mr Graham.

She wrote: "The safety net that should surround vulnerable people like Errol in our society had holes within it.

"Errol needed the GP to try harder to see him, certainly from 2015 onwards.

"He needed the DWP to obtain more evidence at the time his ESA was stopped, to make a more informed decision about him, particularly following the failed safeguarding visits.

"If anyone had known he was struggling, help could have been provided. We do not know why he did not seek it."

The coroner returned a narrative verdict. The cause of death was starvation.

A DWP spokesman said: "This is a tragic, complex case and our sympathies are with Mr Graham’s family.

"We take this very seriously and have referred this to our Serious Case Panel, which includes independent members to help scrutinise and establish any lessons."