Family of David Clapson Lodge Formal Demand For Inquest

David Clapson, a former British soldier died after his benefits were sanctioned. His family has formally requested an inquest into his death.

Lawyers for Gill Thompson, David’s sister, have lodged official papers with the Hertfordshire Coroner on Friday. This was on the basis this was an unnatural death.

After David died in July 2013, the coroner turned down further investigation and an inquest, ruling that his death was due to natural causes. But, backed by the Daily Mirror newspaper, Mrs Thompson has fought for three years for a public investigation an initiative supported by the public with a crowd funding campaign.

Leigh Day law firm says there is a “strong public interest” in a fresh investigation because “a benefit sanction arguably played a contributing or causative factor in the death”.

David Clapson, was a former Lance Corporal in the Royal Signals. David died in July 2013 from fatal diabetic ketoacidosis caused by a severe lack of insulin.

This was because he had been unable to keep his insulin at the correct temperature because – following a benefit sanction following two missed appointments – he had no money to turn on his fridge. The post-mortem found that his stomach was completely empty.

The image are the family with Debbie Abrahams MP.

Debbie was a member of the Work & Pensions Select Committee from June 2011-March 2015, where she led the call for an independent inquiry into the Government’s punitive New Sanctions Regime. She was re-elected as a member of the Work and Pensions Committee in July 2015 until her appointment as Shadow Minister for Disabled People in September 2015.

Debbie is passionate about tackling inequalities and has campaigned extensively for a fairer society, setting up the Oldham Fairness Commission to deliver this in her own constituency.

Key facts from the Diability Benefits Service

• When the Department for Work and Pensions sanctioned him for a month, stopping his £71.70 Job Seekers Allowance, he was left unable to afford to top up his electricity key and unable to afford food.
• In a letter to David’s MP, the DWP stated they were “aware Mr Clapson was insulin dependent”.
• In 2014, Mrs Thompson started a petition with Change.org that gained over 200,000 signatures which helped to secure a Parliamentary Select Committee Inquiry in March 2015. However, the Government rejected the Select Committee recommendation that the number of peer reviews into deaths of persons subject to a sanction be made public.
• The Government also rejected Ms Thompson’s calls for an Independent Review into David’s death and the deaths of others in similar circumstances and of an independent body to conduct more reviews into the deaths of those in receipt of ‘working-age’ benefits.

 Image: RIP David Clapson, a victim of cruel benefit sanctions and misguided DWP policies.

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