Disabled, autistic and homeless: Who will care for Chloe?
Chloe Leighton is crammed into the disabled toilet of a busy pub, pleading on the phone with her social worker to find her a place to stay for the night.
She records the conversation because she doesn’t trust anyone anymore. What makes her situation even more perilous is that Chloe is disabled and autistic.
Until recently, the 33-year-old’s life was happy and stable.
Chloe Leighton ended up homeless after her father was unable to care for her
Then last November, her father had a stroke and was unable to care for her, leaving her alone.
“Dad would keep me safe from all these people. He was the barrier,” she says.
Due to her vulnerabilities, her local council in Buckinghamshire had a legal duty to find her emergency accommodation and social care support – except she says that hasn’t happened.
At first, the council, then friends and family paid for hotel accommodation, but the money ran out and now Chloe has nowhere to go.
“Nobody knows what to do with me,” she explains. “I fall through the gaps.”
Chloe with her father
‘Mould and antisocial behaviour’
The law says that any accommodation must be suitable for Chloe’s needs, but if she refuses somewhere, the council doesn’t have to do anymore to house her – but it can still support her.
So when the council offered her a place in a hostel with a bad reputation in a rural location she refused it.
Chloe was offered accommodation here by the council
Around 160,000 households live in temporary accommodation in the UK – and even though it costs councils £2.3bn per year – the quality of it is often poor.
Sky News saw the hostel Chloe was offered. Residents there told us there was mould and antisocial behaviour.
They urged anyone offered a place there to turn it down.
Chloe struggled to arrange a visit to the hostel and wasn’t confident her social care needs would be met there.
A few weeks after she refused the hostel, the council wrote to her, explaining that they no longer have an obligation to find her accommodation.
The pub she was sheltering in had closed. Her friends and family could no longer pay for hotels.
With neither side backing down, Chloe faced her first night on the streets.
Chloe, pictured, took shelter in a pub when she was left with nowhere to go
That’s where I found her, scared and alone in the cold.
“I don’t know what to do, I’ve never been like this before,” she said.
I decided to phone the police.
While I was on hold, Chloe received a call from the out-of-hours housing department, who were made aware that we were filming the exchange.
Nick Martin phoned the police after finding Chloe on the streets
Chloe’s disability needs not met
After weeks of refusing to give her alternative accommodation, she was offered a place at a hotel a short distance away and she accepted.
But when she arrived, there was a problem.
The room wasn’t wheelchair accessible.
She couldn’t use the toilet in the room or anywhere else in the hotel.
Her fears of not being given suitable accommodation were realised. It was 3am.
Chloe was unable to access the bathroom in the room she was offered
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A Buckinghamshire Council spokesperson said: “We stand by the actions of our staff and as an organisation in regard to the content featured in this piece. We take our duty of care extremely seriously in regard to any resident who presents to us with housing and/or social care need and follow process and procedures rigorously and to the letter.
“We cannot discuss details of any individual case but do recognise the incredibly difficult circumstances any individual or household will be experiencing if they have come to us for help. We keep the person at the heart of all we do, doing what we can to tailor our support offer to their individual needs.
“Some cases can be long and complex, involving various stages that may include an emergency response, other offers of support and ultimately, we aim to provide a long-term solution that meets the needs of the individual or household. At all points in the process, any individual or household has a right to decline any support or options put to them. In such circumstances the council continues to work with the individual or household to seek a solution to meet their needs, within our statutory duties and the resources available to us.”
Last year council adult social care budgets were overspent by nearly £600m, according to the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services.
A government spokesperson told us they had “inherited a devastating housing crisis and a social care system” that they are committed to fixing.
They pointed to their provision of the “largest-ever cash boost in homeless prevention services”, adding that they were also “delivering £26bn for health and social care” and had appointed Baroness Louise Casey to lead an independent commission “to build a social care system that is fair and affordable for all”.
Chloe says the system is broken
Our few days with Chloe reveal a complicated story.
It’s about what happens when someone with complex needs comes face to face with a social care system that is chronically underfunded.
Understanding autism requires time, resources, money – something councils don’t have.
And for Chloe, it’s about trying to find some calm amid the chaos, so she can live her life.
Friends of Jay Slater have failed to appear as witnesses at an inquest into his death – as a coroner heard the British teenager had drugs in his system before he died from a “devastating” head injury.
Jay Slater, 19, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, disappeared in Tenerife after attending a music festival in June last year.
In the early hours of the following day, he is believed to have travelled to an apartment where people he had met were staying – before he went missing.
His body was recovered in a remote part of La Masca village on 15 July following an extensive search of the island by authorities and his family.
The valley where Mr Slater’s body was found in Tenerife
His mother Debbie Duncan, stepfather and other family members attended the inquest into Mr Slater’s death at Preston Coroner’s Court on Wednesday.
Ms Duncan broke down in tears as she told the hearing she still had questions that needed answers.
The hearing, scheduled to last one day, was told extensive efforts had been made to reach several witnesses who were in contact with Mr Slater before he disappeared, which included summonses being issued.
However, a number of witnesses had failed to respond, including Mr Slater’s friends Bradley Geoghegan, Brandon Hodgson and Lucy Law, who were out with him at the music festival.
Jay Slater disappeared in Tenerife in June last year before his body was found the following month. Pic: LBT Global/Slater family
The two men who were staying at an Airbnb that Mr Slater went back to before he disappeared have also not been traced.
Ms Duncan said: “How can we ever get any understanding?
“There’s things we want to question. We want these people to be sat in front of us, because our son went on holiday and didn’t come back, so there’s questions we need to ask.”
Coroner Dr James Adeley agreed to adjourn the hearing, at the request of Mr Slater’s tearful mother, who asked for the witnesses to be brought to court to give evidence before the inquest concludes. A further hearing date has yet to be set.
Earlier, the court heard analysis of Mr Slater’s body showed traces of drugs including cocaine, ketamine and ecstasy.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd detailed Mr Slater’s injuries.
Mr Slater died from a ‘devastating’ head injury, a coroner heard. Pic: PH Build Group
He described “extensive fractures of the left side of his head… extending into the bottom of his skull”.
Mr Slater also sustained “fractures to the left side of the pelvis and hip joints”.
Dr Shepherd said the injuries were “entirely consistent with a heavy fall, from a height, landing on his head”.
Asked by the coroner if there was any suggestion of assault or restraint, he replied: “Nothing to suggest an assault, gripping, holding, nothing of that sort.”
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Dr Adeley asked the pathologist about the impact of Mr Slater’s injuries.
Dr Shepherd replied: “It would have had an immediate and devastating effect on Jay’s consciousness.
“The injuries were so severe I have no doubt he would have been instantly unconscious from the moment of that blow to the head. Death could well have been instant, the injury was so severe.”
Failing that, it would have most likely occurred “extremely soon after” the fall, he added.
Dr Shepherd gave an official cause of death as a head injury.
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A registered sex offender was found with a six-year-old girl after he was detected by facial recognition technology.
David Cheneler, 73, was discovered with the child – whose mother was “completely unaware of his offending history” – after he was identified by a police van in Camberwell, south London, in January.
He was spotted using advanced technology known as Live Facial Recognition (LFR), where live footage is recorded of members of the public as they walk past, capturing their faces, which are then compared against a database of wanted offenders.
If a match is determined, the system creates an alert, which is assessed by an officer.
If suspicions are aroused, the police officer may decide to speak with the individual in question.
The 73-year-old was detected in Camberwell, south London. Pic: Metropolitan Police
When Cheneler was detected on 10 January, cameras alerted the authorities to his status as a registered sex offender.
Additional checks confirmed he had breached his Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO), which prohibited him from being alone with children under 14.
Cheneler was also in possession of a lock knife hidden in the buckle of his belt.
He was subsequently arrested and taken into custody.
Cheneler’s arrest was captured on police bodycam footage. Pic: Metropolitan Police.
Lindsey Chiswick, the Metropolitan Police‘s lead for LFR, said it was “a prime example of the variety of uses” of the technology.
“The tool is not only used to find those wanted, but also to stop people on a watch list who have conditions they must adhere to,” she added.
“These interventions are crucial. Without this technology, Cheneler may have had the opportunity to cause further harm.”
Cheneler had picked up the child from school as a favour to her mother, which he had done twice previously, according to the Met Police.
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Detective Constable Adam Pearce said: “Although there were no allegations made towards David Cheneler on this occasion, it’s possible if he hadn’t been identified using this technology, he could have gone on to abuse this child.
“Her mother was completely unaware of his offending history, and along with her young daughter, were both taken advantage of by Cheneler who abused their trust.”
Cheneler was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment at Kingston Crown Court on Tuesday.
In January, he pleaded guilty at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court to breaching the conditions of his SOPO, and to possessing an offensive weapon.
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