Latest news with #NottinghamCoroner'sCourt
ITV News
a day ago
- Health
- ITV News
Mother found dead alongside disabled daughter in Nottingham refused help, inquest hears
An inquest has heard how a mother in Nottingham, found dead at home with her disabled daughter, repeatedly refused help from local services. The bodies of Alphonsine Djiako Leuga, 47, and Loraine Choulla, 18, were discovered last May at their council home in Radford. It's thought they could have been dead for months. Nottingham Coroner's Court heard how social workers, council officers and community nursing teams tried to engage with Ms Leuga, but that she would often cancel meetings or deny them access to the property. Ms Leuga and her daughter had moved into their council home in 2019. Miss Choulla had Down's syndrome and learning difficulties and was "entirely dependent" on her mother for food and hydration. She began attending a special educational needs school, but in Autumn 2021 Ms Leuga stopped sending her to school, the inquest heard. Attempts to carry out vital maintenance works on the property were stopped by Ms Leuga and the court heard how in April 2023 the gas supply was turned off after workers were denied access to the house to carry out an annual safety check. On another occasion, Ms Leuga told social workers she didn't trust them and she was concerned they would take her daughter away. Her last contact with the authorities was when she dialled 999 asking for help, but an ambulance was never sent. East Midlands Ambulance Service 's head of patient safety, Susan Jevons, said there had been "a missed opportunity for an ambulance to attend Alphonsine when she requested one". The inquest heard that Ms Leuga suffered from sickle cell anaemia and died from pneumonia. Miss Choulla's cause of death is as yet unknown. A statement by Ms Leuga's eldest daughter, Elvira Choulla, was also read out at the inquest. She said she had moved in with her mother and younger sister in 2019, but moved out to live independently three years later. The inquest heard she would often visit them, but that her relationship with her mother deteriorated to the point that the visits almost entirely stopped. The next time she heard any news about them was when police told her they had passed away, the inquest heard. Elvira Choulla described Loraine as a "friendly and bubbly girl". She added: 'She loved being around people and I never saw her sad. I loved her and she loved me back."
Glasgow Times
2 days ago
- Health
- Glasgow Times
Mother and daughter found dead months after 999 call ‘missed opportunity'
Nottingham Coroner's Court was told Alphonsine Djiako Leuga, 47, suffered from sickle cell anaemia and died from pneumonia, while her 18-year-old daughter Loraine Choulla had learning difficulties and Down's syndrome and relied on her mother for food and hydration. A inquest into the deaths, expected to last for five days, began on Monday with assistant coroner Amanda Bewley hearing that Ms Leuga called 999 three months before her body was found, telling a call hander she was cold and could not move. The hearing was told that during the call, made shortly after 1pm on February 2 last year, Ms Leuga groaned, requested an ambulance and said 'I need help to my daughter' and 'I'm in the bed, I feel cold and can't move' before cutting off the line. Police at the scene in May last year (Jacob King/PA) She also gave details of her address in Hartley Road, Radford, Nottingham, where her body and that of her daughter were found on May 21 last year. Giving evidence to the inquest, East Midlands Ambulance Service's head of patient safety, Susan Jevons said the call handler, an emergency medical adviser, should have referred the call to the control room despatch officers. Ms Jevons said attempts had been made to call Ms Leuga back, but she told the inquest: 'The call should have been left for an ambulance to attend once we had got the address, which we had. 'The ambulance didn't go to the address because the emergency medical adviser, thinking it was an abandoned call, closed the call down. 'So it wasn't visible to anybody within the emergency operations centre.' The coroner told Ms Jevons she would have to consider the possibility that sending an ambulance to the address 'might have been the difference between life or death' for Loraine. The inquest was told that Ms Leuga was admitted to hospital for a blood transfusion in late January last year as she was critically ill with very low iron levels, and was given a 'pragmatic' discharge linked to her daughter's care needs. The coroner asked Ms Jevons whether, if she found at the end of the inquest that Loraine had died after her mother, there had been a 'missed opportunity' in relation to the teenager's death. Ms Jevons responded: 'Yes, there was a missed opportunity for an ambulance to attend Alphonsine when she requested one.' The mother and daughter's home after their bodies were found (Jacob King/PA) Earlier, pathologist Dr Stuart Hamilton told the hearing by video-link that the mother and daughter were both likely to have been dead for 'weeks to months' before they were found, rather than for days or hours. Dr Hamilton said his initial cause of death following a post-mortem examination on Ms Leuga was pneumonia of uncertain cause, while her daughter's cause of death could not be established. Answering questions from the coroner, the pathologist said he could not rule out that Ms Leuga had died on the day of the 999 call. The body of Loraine, who the inquest was told was 'entirely dependent on her mother to meet her hydration and nutritional needs', showed no evidence of any third party involvement. Dr Hamilton said of the teenager: 'Unfortunately, based on the post-mortem examination and additional tests alone, it is my view that the cause of death is classed as unascertained – that is, I am not able to give a cause of death on the balance of probabilities.' Asked to comment on the possibility that Loraine's death may have been because of dehydration or malnutrition, Dr Hamilton answered: 'There is nothing in my findings that say any of that is incorrect.' Loraine was more likely to have died from dehydration than malnutrition, the witness said, if it was accepted that she 'wasn't able to make the decision to drink water' because of her difficulties. The inquest continues.
Leader Live
2 days ago
- Health
- Leader Live
Mother and daughter found dead months after 999 call ‘missed opportunity'
Nottingham Coroner's Court was told Alphonsine Djiako Leuga, 47, suffered from sickle cell anaemia and died from pneumonia, while her 18-year-old daughter Loraine Choulla had learning difficulties and Down's syndrome and relied on her mother for food and hydration. A inquest into the deaths, expected to last for five days, began on Monday with assistant coroner Amanda Bewley hearing that Ms Leuga called 999 three months before her body was found, telling a call hander she was cold and could not move. The hearing was told that during the call, made shortly after 1pm on February 2 last year, Ms Leuga groaned, requested an ambulance and said 'I need help to my daughter' and 'I'm in the bed, I feel cold and can't move' before cutting off the line. She also gave details of her address in Hartley Road, Radford, Nottingham, where her body and that of her daughter were found on May 21 last year. Giving evidence to the inquest, East Midlands Ambulance Service's head of patient safety, Susan Jevons said the call handler, an emergency medical adviser, should have referred the call to the control room despatch officers. Ms Jevons said attempts had been made to call Ms Leuga back, but she told the inquest: 'The call should have been left for an ambulance to attend once we had got the address, which we had. 'The ambulance didn't go to the address because the emergency medical adviser, thinking it was an abandoned call, closed the call down. 'So it wasn't visible to anybody within the emergency operations centre.' The coroner told Ms Jevons she would have to consider the possibility that sending an ambulance to the address 'might have been the difference between life or death' for Loraine. The inquest was told that Ms Leuga was admitted to hospital for a blood transfusion in late January last year as she was critically ill with very low iron levels, and was given a 'pragmatic' discharge linked to her daughter's care needs. The coroner asked Ms Jevons whether, if she found at the end of the inquest that Loraine had died after her mother, there had been a 'missed opportunity' in relation to the teenager's death. Ms Jevons responded: 'Yes, there was a missed opportunity for an ambulance to attend Alphonsine when she requested one.' Earlier, pathologist Dr Stuart Hamilton told the hearing by video-link that the mother and daughter were both likely to have been dead for 'weeks to months' before they were found, rather than for days or hours. Dr Hamilton said his initial cause of death following a post-mortem examination on Ms Leuga was pneumonia of uncertain cause, while her daughter's cause of death could not be established. Answering questions from the coroner, the pathologist said he could not rule out that Ms Leuga had died on the day of the 999 call. The body of Loraine, who the inquest was told was 'entirely dependent on her mother to meet her hydration and nutritional needs', showed no evidence of any third party involvement. Dr Hamilton said of the teenager: 'Unfortunately, based on the post-mortem examination and additional tests alone, it is my view that the cause of death is classed as unascertained – that is, I am not able to give a cause of death on the balance of probabilities.' Asked to comment on the possibility that Loraine's death may have been because of dehydration or malnutrition, Dr Hamilton answered: 'There is nothing in my findings that say any of that is incorrect.' Loraine was more likely to have died from dehydration than malnutrition, the witness said, if it was accepted that she 'wasn't able to make the decision to drink water' because of her difficulties. The inquest continues.
ITV News
2 days ago
- Health
- ITV News
Mother and daughter found dead in Nottingham home months after 999 call
A mother and her daughter was found dead, three months after she made a 999 call and told a handler she was cold and could not move. Alphonsine Djiako Leuga, 47, suffered from sickle cell anaemia and died from pneumonia in her home in Nottingham. Her 18-year-old daughter Loraine Choulla had Down's syndrome and learning difficulties and was "entirely dependent" on her mother for food and hydration, Nottingham Coroner's Court was told. Ms Leuga requested an ambulance on the afternoon of February 2 last year, the inquest was told on the first of its five days. She had groaned: "I need help to my daughter' and 'I'm in the bed, I feel cold and can't move' before cutting off the line. She also gave details of her address in Hartley Road, Radford, Nottingham. But no ambulance was ever sent. Three months later, on May 21, her and her daughter's bodies were found at the address, after a neighbour realised the windows of the house had been open since February. East Midlands Ambulance Service 's head of patient safety, Susan Jevons, said attempts had been made to call Ms Leuga back. She told the inquest: 'The call should have been left for an ambulance to attend once we had got the address, which we had. 'The ambulance didn't go to the address because the emergency medical adviser, thinking it was an abandoned call, closed the call down. 'So it wasn't visible to anybody within the emergency operations centre.' The coroner told Ms Jevons she would have to consider the possibility that sending an ambulance to the address 'might have been the difference between life or death' for Loraine. The inquest was told Ms Leuga was admitted to hospital for a blood transfusion in late January last year as she was critically ill with very low iron levels. She was then given a 'pragmatic' discharge, because of her daughter's care needs. The coroner asked Ms Jevons whether there had been a 'missed opportunity'. Ms Jevons responded: 'Yes, there was a missed opportunity for an ambulance to attend Alphonsine when she requested one.' Pathologist Dr Stuart Hamilton said the mother and daughter were likely to have been dead for 'weeks to months' before they were found. Dr Hamilton said the initial cause of death for Ms Leuga following a post-mortem examination was pneumonia of uncertain cause. But her daughter's cause of death could not be established. The pathologist said he could not rule out that Ms Leuga had died on the day of the 999 call. The body of Loraine, who the inquest was told was 'entirely dependent on her mother to meet her hydration and nutritional needs', showed no evidence of any third party involvement. Dr Hamilton said of the teenager: 'Unfortunately, based on the post-mortem examination and additional tests alone, it is my view that the cause of death is classed as unascertained – that is, I am not able to give a cause of death on the balance of probabilities.' Asked to comment on the possibility that Loraine's death may have been because of dehydration or malnutrition, Dr Hamilton answered: 'There is nothing in my findings that say any of that is incorrect.' Loraine was more likely to have died from dehydration than malnutrition, the witness said, if it was accepted that she 'wasn't able to make the decision to drink water' because of her difficulties. The inquest continues.
South Wales Argus
2 days ago
- Health
- South Wales Argus
Mother and daughter found dead months after 999 call ‘missed opportunity'
Nottingham Coroner's Court was told Alphonsine Djiako Leuga, 47, suffered from sickle cell anaemia and died from pneumonia, while her 18-year-old daughter Loraine Choulla had learning difficulties and Down's syndrome and relied on her mother for food and hydration. A inquest into the deaths, expected to last for five days, began on Monday with assistant coroner Amanda Bewley hearing that Ms Leuga called 999 three months before her body was found, telling a call hander she was cold and could not move. The hearing was told that during the call, made shortly after 1pm on February 2 last year, Ms Leuga groaned, requested an ambulance and said 'I need help to my daughter' and 'I'm in the bed, I feel cold and can't move' before cutting off the line. Police at the scene in May last year (Jacob King/PA) She also gave details of her address in Hartley Road, Radford, Nottingham, where her body and that of her daughter were found on May 21 last year. Giving evidence to the inquest, East Midlands Ambulance Service's head of patient safety, Susan Jevons said the call handler, an emergency medical adviser, should have referred the call to the control room despatch officers. Ms Jevons said attempts had been made to call Ms Leuga back, but she told the inquest: 'The call should have been left for an ambulance to attend once we had got the address, which we had. 'The ambulance didn't go to the address because the emergency medical adviser, thinking it was an abandoned call, closed the call down. 'So it wasn't visible to anybody within the emergency operations centre.' The coroner told Ms Jevons she would have to consider the possibility that sending an ambulance to the address 'might have been the difference between life or death' for Loraine. The inquest was told that Ms Leuga was admitted to hospital for a blood transfusion in late January last year as she was critically ill with very low iron levels, and was given a 'pragmatic' discharge linked to her daughter's care needs. The coroner asked Ms Jevons whether, if she found at the end of the inquest that Loraine had died after her mother, there had been a 'missed opportunity' in relation to the teenager's death. Ms Jevons responded: 'Yes, there was a missed opportunity for an ambulance to attend Alphonsine when she requested one.' The mother and daughter's home after their bodies were found (Jacob King/PA) Earlier, pathologist Dr Stuart Hamilton told the hearing by video-link that the mother and daughter were both likely to have been dead for 'weeks to months' before they were found, rather than for days or hours. Dr Hamilton said his initial cause of death following a post-mortem examination on Ms Leuga was pneumonia of uncertain cause, while her daughter's cause of death could not be established. Answering questions from the coroner, the pathologist said he could not rule out that Ms Leuga had died on the day of the 999 call. The body of Loraine, who the inquest was told was 'entirely dependent on her mother to meet her hydration and nutritional needs', showed no evidence of any third party involvement. Dr Hamilton said of the teenager: 'Unfortunately, based on the post-mortem examination and additional tests alone, it is my view that the cause of death is classed as unascertained – that is, I am not able to give a cause of death on the balance of probabilities.' Asked to comment on the possibility that Loraine's death may have been because of dehydration or malnutrition, Dr Hamilton answered: 'There is nothing in my findings that say any of that is incorrect.' Loraine was more likely to have died from dehydration than malnutrition, the witness said, if it was accepted that she 'wasn't able to make the decision to drink water' because of her difficulties. The inquest continues.
