COVID inquiry: Bereaved families feel their grief will only be made more bearable when important questions are answered
Kanan Patel still wears a golden wedding band. I can see it as she holds her mobile to read out a text message from her husband Jayesh.
“Things not improving on O2. Need to try something different.”
She texted back: “I’ve spoken to the Dr. Jayesh keep fighting, don’t let this virus defeat you. We all love you and need you.”
The last messages between Kanan and Jayesh
This was the last time Kanan swapped messages with Jayesh. When he sent it he was lying in a hospital bed fighting to breathe. Days later he was intubated, but the doctors could not save him from COVID.
“He was the youngest on the ward,” Kanan tells me.
At just 52 Jayesh was not in the most at-risk groups. But as a community pharmacist working in spring 2020 as the pandemic was beginning to sweep across the world, Jayesh was left exposed and vulnerable without any protection.
I first came to see Kanan in July 2020, three months after her husband’s death. She and her two young daughters, Ria and Kira, were offering prayers during a solemn Hindu ceremony in their kitchen.
She described then, choking back tears, the last time she saw Jayesh: “He walked towards the ambulance in his slippers, I didn’t know he was never going to come back.”
And with those words Kanan broke down.
The National COVID Memorial on the River Thames near Waterloo
Grief internalised as COVID-19 Inquiry resumes
There are no tears today. Kanan’s grief is internalised. She struggles, as do her daughters, on special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries.
Today, Valentine’s Day, is especially hard. It is also the day when the COVID-19 Inquiry resumes. Kanan is watching online but the stream is experiencing technical issues.
Kanan feels the public inquiry into the pandemic might be the only chance of the government being held to account. She blames it for failing to protect her husband, that and its “chaotic” messaging.
Kanan Patel lost her husband Jayesh to COVID
“All the errors and, you know, all the mistakes which delayed providing the PPE and giving clear guidance to people. There’s a lot, there’s a long list. It all came in dribs and drabs, one guideline today and then tomorrow you hear that it’s something else,” she says.
Lobby believes his father would still be alive if guidance reflected all Britons, not just white ones
Kanan’s frustration is shared by Lobby Akinnola.
I arranged to meet him at the National COVID Memorial on the River Thames near Waterloo, just across the water from the Houses of Parliament.
As we walk along the wall looking at the fresh roses and cards left by bereaved family members he stops and points to a blank heart on the wall.
“This is my dad’s heart, it’s faded now,” he says.
The letters may be fading but Lobby’s pain is not.
Lobby Akinnola lost his father Olufemi
His father Olufemi was found dead on the floor of the family’s home in April 2020. Lobby believes his father would still be alive if NHS 111 guidance had reflected all Britons, not just white ones.
‘Race played a part in the death of my father’
“I personally believe race played a part in the death of my father, there’s always the lingering question of ‘if he were white would he be here’ – and it’s things like when trying to diagnose the symptoms of COVID, asking questions like ‘are your lips blue,’ that’s a red flag, immediate, ambulance 999, blue light your way there, but that question doesn’t apply to people like me and my dad,” Lobby says describing his conversation with a 111 call handler.
“So could his life have been saved if we’d thought ahead, and had the forethought and preparedness to consider how these symptoms are going to show up on black skin.”
A woman leaves flowers and a note at the National COVID Memorial on the River Thames near Waterloo
Lobby is clear about his demands from the inquiry: “I want justice and change. There are many decisions that were made in that building across from us now, that resulted in all of these hearts we see on this wall.”
Sky News has contacted NHS England for comment. In a previous statement regarding the 111 service, they said: “GPs, nurses, paramedics and other health service staff working in the 111 phone and online service have played a key role in helping millions of people get the right care and advice – whether for coronavirus or any other urgent medical needs.”
Bereaved families struggling to be heard
Today’s online preliminary hearings suffered some technical problems resulting in a loss of audio.
Bereaved families say they are struggling to be heard too, they can only share their stories via an online form leaving people like Lobby and Kanan feeling sidelined.
As we walk back along the wall, more flowers and Valentine’s cards are being left. It’s clear that the loss of a loved one to COVID was felt more acutely today.
This grief will only be made more bearable when so many important questions are finally answered.
UK
Philip Young appears in Swindon court charged with 56 sexual offences against ex-wife – as five others also charged
A man has appeared in court charged with drugging and raping his ex-wife over a 13-year period.
Philip Young, 49, formerly of Swindon, has been charged with 56 offences, including multiple counts of rape, against Joanne Young.
He is also charged with administering a substance to allow sexual activity, as well as voyeurism, possession of indecent images of children and possession of extreme images.
Young appeared at Swindon Magistrates’ Court this morning and spoke only to confirm his name and address.
He declined to enter a plea and was remanded in custody until the next hearing at crown court on 23 January.
Philip Young was remanded in custody
The 49-year-old was taken to court in Swindon on Tuesday morning
Five other men have also been charged with sexual offences against Ms Young between 2010 and 2023. The 48-year-old has waived her legal right to anonymity.
The other men are on bail but are due in the same court at 2pm.
They are: Norman Macksoni, 47, of Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire. He is a black British national and has been charged with one count of rape and possession of extreme images.
Dean Hamilton, 47, of no fixed abode. He is a white British national and has been charged with one count of rape and sexual assault by penetration and two counts of sexual touching.
Conner Sanderson Doyle, 31, of Swindon. He is a white British national and has been charged with sexual assault by penetration and sexual touching
Richard Wilkins, 61, of Swindon. He is a white British national and has been charged with one count of rape and sexual touching
Mohammed Hassan, 37, of Swindon. He is a British Asian and has been charged with sexual touching.
The alleged offences took place between 2010 and 2023.
A Sandringham photograph of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the Epstein files has resurfaced at a particularly uncomfortable moment for the Royal Family, just days before they gather at the estate for Christmas.
Andrew is set to move to the King’s private Norfolk estate in the next few months, after he was officially stripped of his titles, honours, and his large home on the Windsor estate.
The picture was among the thousands of Epstein files by the US Department of Justice.
It shows Andrew lying across the laps of several women whose faces have been redacted.
Looking on and laughing is Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend.
The photo was taken in the stately saloon room at Sandringham House in Norfolk.
Prince Charles, now King Charles III, in the same room at Sandringham with Prince Edward in 1969. Pic: PA
Although the image is undated, we know Andrew organised a shooting weekend in 2000 for Ghislaine’s birthday.
It is a picture of intimate access to the inner royal sanctum.
Sandringham is a private royal retreat, and no one is invited here by chance.
Royal biographer, Andrew Lownie, said royal residences were used as “party places” by Andrew.
Andrew at the Royal Family’s Christmas Day service on the Sandringham estate in 2022. Pic: Reuters
“Epstein and Ghislaine took advantage of this,” he said. “They went to Balmoral, Sandringham and Windsor … This showed people just how close they were to the Royal Family.”
There’s no suggestion the wider family knew Epstein, but the timing is deeply awkward. This week Sandringham will once again host the Royal Family’s traditional Christmas gathering.
And the King will deliver his Christmas message to the country and Commonwealth.
Andrew isn’t invited to Sandringham and will be spending Christmas elsewhere. The Norfolk estate will soon become his new home; it’s understood the move will happen in the first quarter of next year.
A photo of the King at Sandringham released to mark his 77th birthday last month. Pic: @MilliePilks/Sandringham Estate
For years, Andrew let Epstein and Maxwell into his privileged world.
They were guests at the 18th birthday party of his daughter, Princess Beatrice.
Read more:
Outrage over incomplete Epstein file release
The links between Epstein and UK revealed in new files
Another photo released in the files shows Andrew, Epstein and Maxwell at Royal Ascot, a firm fixture in the royal calendar.
Epstein and his former girlfriend are also photographed at another shooting party, possibly at Balmoral.
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell hunting, date unknown. Pic: US DOJ
We know the pair were once guests at the Scottish castle, pictured in the same lodge loved by the late Queen.
Mr Lownie said the pair enjoyed “extraordinary” access.
“It just shows how close Andrew was to them… for them to be socialising in these very private residences,” he added.
Andrew’s association with Epstein has cost him his royal roles, titles, and his beloved home.
He has always strongly denied any wrongdoing.
Sandringham Estate, Norfolk. Pic: PA
The images and documents released and revealed in the Epstein files contain graphic and traumatic content.
It is harrowing and retraumatising for Epstein’s victims.
And what continues to shock – is how a man like Jeffrey Epstein had proximity to the Royal Family. And why Andrew let it happen and stayed friends with him.
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