Mother begged Oldham council to move her and late son from damp house, inquest hears | Housing

A mother begged a council for help to move her family out of a privately rented house that was freezing and had chronic damp and mould, which she believes killed her son, an inquest has heard.

The hearing resumed on Monday into the death of 27-year-old Luke Brooks, from Oldham, who died in October 2022. The inquest in Rochdale has previously heard that Brooks died after developing an acute respiratory illness which was provisionally linked to mould exposure.

It is being conducted by senior coroner Joanne Kearsley, who last year oversaw the inquest into the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak.

She then concluded that mould in the social housing flat caused Awaab’s death and hoped it would be “a defining moment” for the housing sector. The inquest caused shock waves, leading to resignations at the social housing provider and the government bringing in tougher legislation on mould.

Patricia Brooks said they moved into the privately rented house in 2014 and had no heating or hot water for three years. She said she organised the installation of a new boiler in 2017 but the radiators didn’t work properly, with only the top few inches getting hot.

The house was always freezing, she said, with it normally being warmer outside. It also had severe damp and mould problems caused by leaking pipes and rain coming through the roof and ceilings.

Wearing a T-shirt featuring a picture of her son, Patricia Brooks said she never realised mould could be harmful until she heard about Awaab’s case. “I didn’t know mould could kill people until I saw that little boy,” she said.

She said she was hospitalised herself in 2019 with pneumonia. Her son was scared of doctors and hospitals but had never really been sick before he developed the illness that led to his death.

Brooks said Luke’s illness began with sniffles and she thought he had caught a virus or had flu. He later developed a rash over his body. She said her son had never worked and spent most of his time playing video games in the upstairs room he shared with his friend, Christopher Haycock.

She described her son as “happy go lucky” and “funny, witty, intelligent, clever”. He was kind-hearted and “would do anything for anyone”, she said.

A police officer who attended the death, PC Adam Rogers, said Patricia Brooks told him that the house had nearly killed her and it had now killed her son.

He said he could recall mould in Luke’s bedroom and in the bathroom, with about half the ceiling covered in black mould spots. There was also loose plaster on a wall and exposed brick.

Rogers could also remember how cold it was, how he could see his breath. “The whole house … just felt very heavy on your chest.”

Patricia Brooks was asked what she said to Oldham council before her son’s death. She said: “For God’s sake, will you please get us out of that house before someone dies. And a couple of months later, somebody did.”

She was not on a waiting list and was advised to keep on bidding for social housing.

Haycock described Luke as his “best mate” who liked the same things, including video games. He said the bedroom was also shared with their three dogs and a cat, who ate, drank water and slept in the room.

Luke smoked about 20 roll-up cigarettes a day and, mostly at weekends, he would smoke cannabis, the inquest heard from witnesses.

Haycock said the room could be untidy as they were not great at clearing food plates or things like used cans and crisp packets.

He described how Luke had tried to scrape off the mould with a trowel. The house, he said, “wanted knocking down”.

The coroner said on Monday that it was important that witnesses did not speculate about the “cause of any virus Luke may have had or the source of it”.

The inquest, expected to last five days, continues.