Inquest determines neglect contributed to the death of David Lodge
26 March 2025
Garden Court North Chambers’ Ciara Bartlam represented David Lodge’s sister, Keri, at Hull Coroner’s Court (pictured) Credit: Hudgell Solicitors.
In December 2024, an inquest at Hull Coroner’s Court determined that neglect contributed to the death of David Lodge, a 40-year-old man with a learning disability and autism, who was found next to the body of his father and full-time carer Peter.
Peter, who had been the sole carer for David since July 2021, had unexpectedly died up to four days before David’s sister, Keri, found the pair at their home on 12 January, 2022.
David was physically weak but alive and taken to Hull Royal Infirmary, where he died from severe pneumonia the next day.
Neglect, strain of caring and a lack of government support
Recently, David’s sister has spoken to The Guardian about the facts of David’s death that were not investigated during his inquest; namely the lack of support for unpaid carers and the need for plans to assist cared-for people to get help in the event of an emergency.
In a letter penned to The Guardian in 2005, Peter pleaded with government ministers to increase the rate of carer’s allowance, the meagre weekly benefit paid to those who save the state billions a year, then worth less than 50p an hour for someone providing at least 100 hours of care a week.
Twenty years on that figure would amount to 82p an hour. The 5.8 million unpaid carers in the UK continue to be paid lip service by the government.
David’s inquest considered the care and treatment he received at Hull Royal Infirmary, particularly whether there was anything more that could have been done to escalate his care – and whether he was treated differently because of his disabilities.
Edward Steele, Assistant Coroner for East Riding and Hull, found that David’s death was contributed to by neglect and issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report, which was published on 24 January, 2025.
There was, however, no exploration of the impact of the lack of safety planning, despite other similar cases including that of Bronson Battersby, the two-year-old who died of dehydration next to his father’s body almost two years after David.
Garden Court North Chambers’ Ciara Bartlam represented David Lodge’s sister, Keri. She was instructed by Dawn Makepeace from Watson Woodhouse.
Additional media
The Guardian: ‘Nobody found him in time’: how neglect and stress led to the deaths of a full-time carer and his son
George Julian: David Lodge’s Inquest: Coroner’s Conclusion and Prevention of Future Deaths
For further information, please contact Alex Blair, Communications Manager at Garden Court North Chambers: ablair@gcnchambers.co.uk
