COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

A charity worker has called for a full investigation into the deaths of a vulnerable couple whose bodies were found in their Warwickshire home.



The deaths of Mark and Helen Mullins, from Bedworth, last Thursday, are being treated as "unexplained" by police.

Kervin Julien, from the Christian charity Anesis, knew the couple and said they struggled to get benefits.

He has called on the authorities to find out what happened so it does not happen to others in need.

He said the couple walked every Sunday to a soup kitchen in Coventry almost 12 miles away in order to have something to eat and pick up food bags.

'System is very unkind'

Speaking as part of a documentary about the soup kitchen in December 2010, Mr Mullins said: "My Helen is learning disabled, but it took her a very long time to get any kind of benefits or social security.

"The job centre decided that she couldn't sign on because she wasn't capable... she had no brain functions, no numeracy, literacy skills.

"But the incapacity people... wouldn't recognise her until she had been fully diagnosed - which meant month after month after month of specialists.

"So basically, we were caught in a Catch 22 situation. We were living on very little, hand to mouth.

"I think the system is very unkind. We have lost count of how many appeals we have had, we've got reams of paperwork and had help from the Citizens Advice Bureau.

"We've had to fight tooth and nail every step of the way to get benefits."

'Toxicology tests'

Mr Julien said: "We're living in a time when people are desperate, and these people weren't scroungers, weren't out stealing.

"They were trying to do the right thing, they were trying to do it the right way, and it seems like every corner they turned, they were met with a different obstacle.

"They (authorities) need to find out what went wrong and they need to make sure it never happens again."

Neighbours raised the alarm after the couple had not been seen for several weeks.

A Warwickshire Police spokesman said: "Post-mortem examinations have been conducted on the bodies of a man and a woman which were found at an address in Henson Road, Bedworth, on Thursday 4 November.

"The results are inconclusive and police are now waiting for toxicology tests to establish how the two people died.

"They are not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths, which are being treated as unexplained at this time."

A spokeswoman for Warwickshire County Council said: "Warwickshire Police haven't formally identified the bodies found at Henson Road and it would be inappropriate for us to offer any comment."

Bedworth couple's family deny 'financial worries' claim

The family of a couple found dead at their Warwickshire home have said they did not think they had money worries.

The bodies of Mark Mullins, 48, and his 59-year-old wife Helen, were found when police broke into their Bedworth home on 3 November.

The couple, who had earlier told a documentary programme of their financial struggle, had not been seen for some time.

Warwickshire Police said the deaths were being treated as "unexplained".

No-one else is being sought in connection with the deaths.

'Lived in poverty'

Police have also appealed for anyone who knew them, or had any contact with them after 26 September, to contact them.

Det Insp Bob Jamieson said he was aware of reports suggesting the couple had lived in poverty and that this might have had a bearing on their deaths.

"Our inquiries so far have revealed that this was not the case and that the lack of finances was not an issue in their lives, nor was the alleged lack of any social care support an apparent factor either," he said.

In a statement, the couple's family said that as far they were aware the couple were in full receipt of any benefits they were entitled to and relevant agencies were in contact and supporting them.

In December 2010, the couple took part in a documentary about a Coventry soup kitchen in which they spoke of their troubles when trying to claim benefits.

This led to a charity worker calling for an inquiry into their deaths saying they had struggled to make ends meet.