Tragic deaths of elderly couple who needed help

An independent review will be held after a reclusive elderly couple were found dead in their home despite neighbours' efforts to get them help.

Confirmation of the inquiry came yesterday as the Government said lessons needed to be learned from the tragic deaths.

The bodies of Jean and Derek Randall were found at their home in Northampton last Thursday.

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A concerned neighbour who regularly cooked meals for the couple, believed to be in their 70s, said she had not heard from them since the previous Saturday and they may have been dead for several days before they were discovered.

Heather Footitt, 73, has revealed Mr Randall was trying to get his wheelchair-bound wife into a home but his requests had fallen on deaf ears.

She too had tried all sorts of authorities to get help for the couple, including the county council, health services, and Age Concern, but had no luck.

"He couldn't cope; he was asking for help," she said. "He seemed to have set Christmas as a target. He said: 'Heather, if I can just get Jean in a home before Christmas I think I'll be okay, I can pull myself out of this', but it never happened."

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Health Minister Mike O'Brien said the deaths of Jean and Derek Randall were "very worrying" and pledged to ensure the case was properly investigated.

A full serious case review will be held by Northamptonshire County Council which yesterday denied authorities had not been in contact with the couple.

Mr Robin Brown, Cabinet member for health and adult social services, said it was deeply saddened and concerned.

"Our initial findings show that contrary to speculation, the county's key organisations were speaking with and visiting Mr and Mrs Randall throughout December and indeed on a regular basis beforehand.

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"Nonetheless we need to see if there is anything more or different which could or should have been done."

The review by the Northamptonshire Safeguarding Adults Board and will assess the roles of all the organisations involved.

Mr Randall's niece, Susan Spring, 52, said the couple became reclusive when their disabled son David was born. David died in the late 1970s when he was about 18 years old.

"We didn't have a lot of contact with (Derek) at all," she said. "He kept himself to himself. He wouldn't allow people to be in direct contact with him. When they lost David, (Derek and Jean) just lived for each other."

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Despite living in the same town, she had not seen her uncle since she bumped into him in a supermarket three years ago.

The couple were found when police broke into their house in Birch Barn Way. The alarm was raised by a nurse who called at the house to give Mrs Randall an injection.

Ms Spring, a facilities manager, described her uncle as a quiet man who was also very proud.

"He wouldn't ask for help. He must have been very desperate when he asked for some help in December." She is trying to find out where the couple's son was buried so they could be buried alongside him.

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Northamptonshire Police have said they are not treating the deaths as suspicious.

At Commons question time, the couple's Labour MP Sally Keeble (Northampton N) urged health Ministers to ensure "very careful national oversight" into the review as she had a "lack of confidence in some of our local arrangements".

Mr O'Brien said: "We will take a keen interest in the outcome of this and we want to ensure that any lessons that need to be learned are learned and this sort of thing doesn't happen in future."

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