This is a sad story, but I am grateful to Ambush Predator (Julia) for bringing it to my attention in her tweets. AP has already blogged on this, but I don’t feel bad about plagiarism because this is a story which needs to be out there as much a possible.

According to reports in the Sundays in May last year 40 year old Samantha Hancox in May last year was found dead in a chair at her elderly parents home in Tipton. West Midlands. Her parents had thought she was in a coma, but sadly Samantha had died.

She was their only child.

Samantha had been a normal and, judging by the pictures, a lovely looking young woman who at one point had been studying law. However, for whatever reason, Samantha developed an extraordinarily strong “Obsessive Compulsive Disorder” in which she had a complete phobia of germs and anything which would expose her to them, including going out doors and the preparation of food.

She became unable to function properly and would spend up to 20 hours a day showering and trying to “keep clean” which appears to have caused scarring and disfigurement.

From the age of 25 she appears to have been effectively housebound. Her later years were spent secluded in the front room watching TV. Towards the end, when her elderly father came out of hospital after a prostate operation her condition worsened, and she began refusing food, possibly fearing that her father had brought germs home.

It must have been a sad, lonely, wasted existence.

The official cause of death was dehydration and a skin infection caused as a result, one assumes, of the constant scrubbing and scratching.

A tragic story in so many ways. This young woman was plainly very ill and needed some real psychological help. Maybe her parents could or should have done something more – I do not know, I was not there and I cannot say, and I am NOT  attributing blame on them. But I do not believe, I cannot believe, I REFUSE to believe, that something could not have been done on the part of the NHS or us, the wider community, to assist this poor young woman a long time ago.

On top of this tragedy, there is more. Mr and Mrs Hancox have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. Mr Hancox, by the way, has bone cancer.

I am sure all readers of this blog are aware as am I that one has to be careful about judging a case on the face of reports in the press. And I hold up my hands for lack of journalistic method and rigour here. I have not interviewed individuals concerned, for example. Perhaps there is some good procedural reason why Inspector Plod must arrest 70 year bereaved parents who had  been left alone to fend for their terribly ill child.

Perhaps not, though. Perhaps it is another example of the values of the modern state being upside down, the wrong way round.

And there was another aspect to this sad tale which caught my eye. Mr Hancox says that he and his wife could not cope when he returned from hospital, but received no help from the local authority Social Services.

Again, I have not the means to investigate the primary facts, such as what appeals for help were made, and what inquiries Social Services could and should have carried out.

However, the identity of the local authority caught my eye. It is none other than our old friend, the sinister self styled Stasi State of Sandwell. In this case, the legal Presumption of Inhumanity comes into play.

What a hell hole it must be.

I would love readers to keep an eye on this story.

Thanks again to Ambush Predator for bringing this to my attention

In love and light,

A VERY angry,

Sister Eva Longoria

Pericles February 11, 2011 at 19:11

I hope any-one checking late on this piece will take the trouble to read
this courageous article by Bryony Gordon in The Daily Telegraph.

ΠΞ

Joe Public February 7, 2011 at 20:53

Sister Eva, a very sad story.

However……”But I do not believe, I cannot believe, I REFUSE to believe, that
something could not have been done on the part of the NHS or us, the wider
community, to assist this poor young woman a long time ago.”

A grown person, living at home with her parents, refuses medical
assistance.

If the local council had ‘taken her away’, then the press & the
blogosphere would would have reacted just as they are now. [After all, it’s
Sandwell, isn’t it.]

“On top of this tragedy, there is more. ……….. Mr Hancox, by the way, has
bone cancer.” Again, sad and adds to the family tradgedy. But how does this
affect the story, apart from gaining more sympathy?

Sister Eva
Longoria February 7, 2011 at 19:02

I see that this has got some radio coverage today. Difficult to get past
the straight bat “no comments”, but maybe at least it will put the heat on
Plod to put up or shut up….

fourbanks February 7, 2011 at 10:45

I have a similar story on a neighbour of mine who was well educated and
working for British airways and fell ill lost her job and went down
hill.
She had to do battle with the DWP and eventually gave up despite my
own ongoing battles with DWP i couldn’t help her as much as i would have liked
and to this day feel that i could have done more but when your ill yourself it
is very difficult to say the least

She probably is now in the best place as to keep fighting for your benefits
is very soul destroying and even today i find myself thinking do i need this
grief with the DWP for the rest of my life

Talwin February 7, 2011 at 09:23

“…some good procedural reason why Inspector Plod must arrest……” I think the
technical term, applied to many cases, is known as ‘arse covering’.

Sister Eva
Longoria February 7, 2011 at 09:01

I agree that we may have to suspend judgement about Plod and the Sandwell
Stasi for the moment – but maybe we can get to the bottom of this tragic
matter

Jiks February 7, 2011 at 08:05

While one is right to be cautious of anything reported in the Mail,
Sandwell and West Midlands Police both have previous for this sort of
behaviour.

Like Sister Eva, when I read about this case it made me more angry than
anything else happening in the UK for a long time. From the information we
have, this is horrifying abuse of power of two elderly people who did their
best in an impossible, tragic situation.

If the girl in question had died in hospital of infection and dehydration
would 30 police officers have turned up and arrested the staff? No, obviously
not as those are among the leading causes of death in our fine
institutions.

The message from the authorities from this and similar cases appears to be
“don’t you dare try to look after a sick relative, that is the responsibility
of the state, if you do we will punish you to the fullest extent of the
law”.

JuliaM February
7, 2011 at 08:46

“If the girl in question had died in hospital of infection and
dehydration would 30 police officers have turned up and arrested the staff?
“

In the spirit of ‘turnabout’s fair play’, how about the next time some
toy is discovered medium-rare and encrusted with filth while its alcoholic
mother is passed put drunk, how about the police march into the nearest SS
office and arrest everyone who ever handled the case file?

JuliaM February 7, 2011 at 08:53

Damn iPhone!

‘Toy’ = ‘tot’

‘Put’ = ‘out’

Clarissa February 7, 2011 at 11:07

Given how the likes of Tracy Connelly apparently treat their
offspring I’d suggest that toy wasn’t actually a typo…

Richard B February
7, 2011 at 07:35

Given the Mail’s propensity for shock-horror-outrage stories, and
the fact they often make things up and present them as fact, I will be
suspending my judgement until some more information comes out. The arrest was
by the police, not the local authority, and I find it hard to believe they
would do this without good reason. I suspect there is more to this than meets
the eye. Remember the Mail’s ruddy-cheeked, smiling pensioner who was
fined for having a small Swiss-Army-style knife that he used to cut up his
crippled wife’s fruit with on picnics? You know, the one who actually had an
illegal hunting lock-knife, had made threats in the pub to harm someone, and
had set off at closing time with the knife in his car? The one who has now
been charged with sexual offences against two teenage girls? The papers have
an agenda, and the truth isn’t on it. I make no judgement on this case at all,
because all I know of it I have read in the papers, but I wouldn’t be
surprised to find out that it isn’t as simple as it sounds.

JuliaM February
7, 2011 at 08:49

Yes, it is always wise to exercise caution with the ‘Mainly Fail’ but if
they haven’t found their smoking gun in the eight months they’ve
apparently been working on this, perhaps it’s because there isn’t one to be
found?