Mother begged to escape mould-infested home... weeks later son, 27, died
A MOTHER lost her son to pneumonia weeks after begging to be moved out of her mouldinfested home ‘ before somebody died’.
Luke Brooks, 27, started suffering colds after moving into the rented property with his mother Patricia, she told an inquest yesterday.
She said the house in Oldham was ‘freezing’ but their private landlord failed to fix the broken boiler and faulty radiators, or multiple leaks in the roof and bathroom.
Friends said Mr Brooks’s bedroom – in which he spent most of the day playing video games – and the bathroom had black mould spots on the walls and ceilings.
In October last year he came down with flu symptoms and began suffering from a rash, the inquest was told. Three days later his condition seemed to be improving but he had a seizure and was pronounced dead after an ambulance was called. A post mortem examination found he had been suffering from pneumonia leading to acute respiratory distress syndrome brought on by living in ‘ heavily mould- infested accommodation’. The inquest heard that when police reached the scene following Mr Brooks’s death, his mother cried out: ‘This house put me in hospital and now it’s killed my son.’
The investigation follows an outcry over the death of twoyearold Awaab Ishak, which was caused by exposure to mould at his parents’ housing association flat in nearby
Rochdale. Joanne Kearsley – the coroner in charge of both inquests – had said Awaab’s tragic death should be a ‘defining moment’.
Mrs Brooks told Rochdale Coroner’s Court that a bathroom at the two- bedroom property – which was shared by six adults, three dogs and a cat – was covered in mould, while rain came in through the roof. She said she pleaded with Oldham Council: ‘For God’s sake would you please get us out of that house before someone dies. A couple of months later, somebody did.’
Mrs Brooks said when they moved into the property in 2014 the boiler wasn’t working, describing it as ‘always cold and damp’. About a year after they moved in, she noticed mould in the upstairs bathroom, saying there was ‘black stuff all over the ceiling’.
She said a new boiler was finally installed in 2017.
Mr Brooks shared his bedroom with a male friend. He had become a ‘recluse’ before his death, regularly smoking cannabis and drinking.
New rules came into force last month requiring social housing landlords to fix damp and mould or offer alternative accommodation. The landlord will give evidence tomorrow.
‘It was always cold and damp’