DWP Benefit Sanctions Lead to Claimants Leg Amputation

A diabetic had to have his leg amputated when his condition spiralled out of control because he couldn’t afford to eat healthily when his benefits were halted for FIVE months.

David Boyce’s tragic case has sparked off protests against ‘immoral’ Jobcentre rules and welfare sanctions.

Eventually, Mr Boyce won an appeal against the sanctions, which saw him without cash for five months.

But by July, his complications from his type two diabetes had already caused irreversible damage. David, who lives in Weaste, said he couldn’t control his insulin intake and was unable to follow his strict diabetic diet because he had no money.

He suffered diabetic ulcers and was diagnosed with the flesh-eating disease, necrotizing fasciitis.

One of his legs had to be amputated. 

The cash was eventually handed to David after he won on appeal, aided by Salford’s Unemployed and Community Resource Centre, with every sanction overturned.

Campaigners say that isn’t enough and they want the DWP to pay compensation for David’s amputation.

Campaigners gathered at Eccles Job Centre to protest against ‘immoral’ benefits sanction this week, claiming scores of people were being left depressed and on the verge of suicide.

Salford Unemployed and Community Resource Centre manager Alec McFadden said the DWP had imposed ‘unachievable’ requirements for those in receipt of benefits.

Last year, the organisation helped clients recover more than £500,000.

The DWP claim that sanctions are only used in a very small percentage of cases, and the number of sanctions has fallen substantially in the last year.

Image: David Boyce

Source: Manchester Evening News