The relatives of two men who were killed while living in shared accommodation in Ipswich have said that not enough is being done to support vulnerable people.
The tragic news of the death of a newborn baby last week was the fourth death in seven years linked to a shared accommodation in Ipswich.
The baby, whose sex has not been confirmed, was discovered in Wilbury House in Norwich Road on Saturday, December 9. Two men and a teenaged girl were arrested on suspicion of murder. All three suspects have now been released pending further enquiries.
In June, the police discovered the body of a two-year-old girl, who was later named as Isabella Wheildon, at a temporary housing unit in Sidegate Lane.
The following day, Scott Jeff, 22, of Bedfordshire and Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell, 22, of no fixed abode, were arrested. They were later charged with her murder.
In 2021, Steven Povey, 37, was killed by a fellow resident in a brutal attack at the Beaumont Guest House in Norwich Road. Warren Atkinson was jailed for life with a minimum of 15 years last December.
Mr Povey’s sister, Kayleigh Mclaughlin, now works as a psychiatric nurse. She has serious concerns about the people who are found emergency shared accommodation but are not given adequate support, something she sees frequently.
“People need to be aware of how dangerous it is,” she said.
Ms Mclaughlin is particularly concerned about people dealing with complex issues such as drug addiction or mental health problems will be housed together. “That chaos gets more chaotic,” she explained.
Understandably, she said, landlords simply do not have the level of training that professionals such as herself have, and so are unable to look out for warning signs.
“They need to make sure that people are getting at least minimal training, such as conflict resolution, what to do in a crisis, mental health first aid and safeguarding basics.”
Samantha Nicholls shares Ms Mclaughlin’s concerns. The body of her son, Joe Pooley, was found in the River Gipping in 2018.
Three people, Becki West-Davidson, Sean Palmer and Luke Greenland, who later changed his name to Sebastian Smith, were jailed for his murder in 2021.
At the time of his death, Mr Pooley, 22, was living in the Kingsley Guest House, but Ms Nicholls said that he had been moved 36 times in the previous four years.
Mr Pooley was autistic and had global developmental delay, which his mother said made him “incredibly vulnerable”.
She explained that at the time, Ipswich Borough Council had said that Mr Pooley needed to be housed somewhere with the correct support, rather than the temporary housing they were able to provide, which she agreed with.
“Joe was always put around people that he shouldn’t have been put around,” said Ms Nicholls.
“Most of these homes were for people with either mental health problems, drug problems or who had just come out of prison.
“Joe needed to be somewhere for people with learning disabilities.
“Because he was so vulnerable, he was an easy target for people like Luke [Greenland] who just wanted somebody as a lackey or to take money from. All Joe wanted was friends.”
An Ipswich Borough Council spokesperson said: “The council has a duty to provide emergency accommodation to people presenting as homeless who are in priority need. This accommodation has to be suitable under the legislation, and we operate a high standard of accommodation within the borough.
“We strive to move people out of emergency accommodation as quickly as possible into long term, sustainable accommodation.
“When an individual comes to the council in need of accommodation, we will assess them in terms of their housing and personal needs. We liaise with statutory partners to ensure the accommodation is appropriate for their needs and we will then work closely with our partner organisations on any safeguarding or support needs who will provide relevant services, information and support.”
A spokesperson for Suffolk County Council said: "Our thoughts continue to be with Kayleigh and her family following the tragic murder of her brother.
"Suffolk County Council currently provides around 300 units of supported accommodation specialising in mental health support needs in Suffolk. These services are commissioned by the council and delivered in partnership with providers, landlords, health and colleagues from district and borough councils as responsibility for housing rests with them.
"In 2022, we changed the way in which mental health social care was delivered in Suffolk by returning mental health social work responsibility, and associated staff, to the county council from the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust. This change has seen an increase in the quality of support provided around mental health and was referenced in the recent CQC inspection of our services, which said that staff felt this change has enabled them to provide an improved more holistic service for people, we look to build upon the improvements made so far.”
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