Mum and daughter found dead at home months after 999 plea

BBC News

17 hours ago

A mother called 999 pleading for help months before she was found dead alongside her disabled daughter in their home, an inquest has heard.The bodies of Alphonsine Dijako Leuga, 47, and 18-year-old Loraine Choulla were found on 21 May 2024 in a house in Radford, Nottingham, after concerns were raised about their welfare. They were believed to have been undiscovered for "weeks or months". An inquest into their deaths, which started on Monday, heard Alphonsine had called for an ambulance on 2 February saying she was cold and could not move, but nobody attended.
An inquest at Nottingham Coroner's Court, led by assistant coroner Amanda Bewley, is expected to last five days.Alphonsine's medical cause of death was proposed as pneumonia while her daughter's was "unascertained", pathologist Dr Stuart Hamilton said in evidence. The inquest heard Loraine, who had Down's Syndrome and learning disabilities, was "entirely dependent" on her mother.Dr Hamilton said he could "not rule out" that Alphonsine might have died on 2 February, which is when she called 999.
Alphonsine had been admitted to City Hospital on 26 January with a lower respiratory tract infection and needed blood transfusions due to low iron levels.The inquest heard despite the hospital wanting her to stay, she was "discharged pragmatically" on 28 January to return to her daughter.It was agreed she would return the next day, but she did not come back, and the hospital and her GP were unable to contact her. On 2 February, Alphonsine called 999 asking for an ambulance, the inquest heard.She told a call handler she needed help for herself and her daughter."I feel cold and I can't move," she told the call handler.
'Missed opportunity'
In a transcript read out at the inquest, the call handler asked several times what language Alphonsine spoke and whether she needed an interpreter. Despite not responding to those questions, she gave her address and asked again for an ambulance. "Would you send an ambulance? Please come, please," were the last words she said on the phone before the call ended. Giving evidence, Susan Jevons, a paramedic and head of the coroners service at East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS), said an attempt was made to call Alphonsine back with no answer."The ambulance didn't go to the address because the emergency medical advisor, thinking it was an abandoned call, closed the call down," Mrs Jevons said. She added that should "never had happened" as they had her address, telephone number, and details of her symptoms. An internal investigation found there was a "missed opportunity" for an ambulance to attend the day Alphonsine called. Mrs Jevons apologised on behalf of EMAS for "all of the errors" it madeThe inquest continues.