‘MY LITTLE BOY’S COT IS FULL OF MOULD...’
Mum’s fears for son’s health at council property
TENANT Darciann Fleary is calling for repairs to be carried out at her home – after blaming her ‘mouldy’ council house for making her baby ill.
The house-proud 19-yearold, below, says she feels like she’s ‘living like a tramp’ due to the ‘horrible’ conditions in her two-bed maisonette in Trent Vale.
And she’s worried a similar fate could befall her one-yearold, Felix, to that of tragic Awaab Ishak whose death in 2020 was recently attributed to untreated mould.
Darciann was so concerned that she moved in with mum Jacqui Fleary after Felix was born at 24 weeks last year. During his short life, he has undergone heart surgery and Darciann says Felix also suffers with lung issues which resulted in him having to be on oxygen.
However, Darciann’s mum has downsized meaning she has been forced back into her ‘mouldy’ council home.
The teenager, who has been calling for action to be taken for over a year, said: “Because Felix was on oxygen, we wanted somewhere safe for him. We thought it would be in his best interests to move in with my mum.
“I took most of my stuff to my mum’s house. It was all covered in mould, his cot, bed and clothes.
“A housing lady called and she said ‘We know your flat is unoccupied. You can either give it up, or you can move in and tackle the problems. If you decided not to move back in we’d have to force eviction.’
“I’m ashamed of my home and I’m tired of paying out to replace mould-damaged furniture.”
After moving back into the council property, Darciann says it wasn’t long before the same thing happened again. Darciann said: “Everything is ruined. My little boy’s cot is full of mould. The door is covered in mould, it’s rotting.
“I’m a very house proud girl. It’s really getting me down, I can’t make it my home, every time I try it gets ruined. I just want to leave.”
Mum Jacqui has also been trying to help get the issues fixed. She said: “I rang the council daily to fix the mould. There was nothing done about it. They say they’d come out and nobody came out.”
Stoke-on-trent City Council confirmed it was looking into the problem. A spokesman said: “We are aware of the issues this tenant is facing and will continue to work with Unitas and the tenant to resolve the issues.
“Following a recent visit to the property we have a plan in place to resolve the issues and over the next few weeks, the property will be plastered and a damp course added, we will then look at installing a specialised ventilation system.”