Family blames squalid leaky home for son's death but no 'significant' mould is found

Luke Brooks’ mum Patricia and dad James had blamed mould in their damp Manchester property for the 27-year-old's death in October 2022 - now an inquest has heard there was no "significant" mould

A "squalid" home which a family believes contributed to the death of their son had "no significant mould" according to experts giving evidence at his inquest.

Luke Brooks’ parents Patricia and James have blamed mould in the damp property where they lived in Oldham, Greater Manchester for his death in October 2022.

The 27-year-old died after developing an acute respiratory illness. His mother previously told the hearing she begged Oldham Council to help her family move from the property which she said was plagued with mould and leaked rain through the roof.

The inquest had previously heard the house was so cold you could "see your breath" and Luke's bedroom had "jet black mould". The hearing in Rochdale also heard how Mr Brooks lived in “squalor” in the bedroom where he spent most of his time, and which he shared with his friend Chris Haycock and their three dogs.

On Wednesday, a police officer and environmental health manager both said they inspected the house after Mr Brooks’ death, but that it had been cleaned and was not in the same condition he would have been living in. Asked by senior coroner Joanne Kearsley if there was “significant” mould in the house, Joanne Collier, assistant environmental health manager for Oldham Council, said: “No, there was mould growing in the bathroom ceiling which needed attending to but it was not significant in that it was not in the living room, not in the bedroom. It wasn’t in those lifestyle areas you’re constantly going in.”

Detective Inspector Andrew Fink, of Greater Manchester Police, said he noticed a small patch of mould above the radiator in the bathroom but no other areas. But he said Mr Brook’s sister Sarah told him she had extensively cleaned Mr Brooks’ bedroom and removed any mould. His statement from the visit noted seeing leftover plates and cutlery, unclean bedding and evidence of Mr Brooks’ dogs “using the bedroom as a toilet at that time”.

A pathologist previously told the inquest it was unlikely the mould that contributed to Mr Brooks’ death – aspergillus – was the same as that growing on the walls in his house, which was mostly penicillium. Fungus expert Professor Malcolm Richardson said he found “very, very little” evidence of aspergillus in the house with just one spore found in the bedroom where Mr Brooks died.

Ms Collier said that there had “definitely been missed opportunities with regards to customer care” in the Brooks’ family’s case after the inquest heard the council’s Environmental Health team had been contacted by charity Positive Steps in 2021 about the property being in disrepair, but the council never organised an inspection as a result.

In November 2021, the family told Environmental Health that there was a leak in the bathroom and the house was full of mould. An officer carried out an inspection and noted one “category 1” hazard – broken lights on the first floor – but there was no reference to damp and mould in their report. An infectious disease specialist said “no single factor” could be confirmed as a cause of the condition Mr Brooks suffered.

A statement read to the inquest from Dr Chris Kosmidis said aspergillus is inhaled daily and the immune system of a healthy person can rapidly eliminate aspergillus particles, but it can affect people with weakened immune systems – such as people with cancer or HIV – or people who have had influenza or Covid-19. Dr Kosmidis said Mr Brooks had reported symptoms which “could be suggestive of a viral infection,” which could have made him more susceptible to aspergillus. He had a negative Covid-19 test, the inquest heard.

The expert said he could not find cases of aspergillus pneumonia linked to a mouldy room. He said there were links with cannabis, which Mr Brooks was known to smoke, and there had been a number of cases of aspergillosis among cannabis smokers, but the links “cannot be proven”.

The inquest previously heard the family moved into the house in 2014 and giving evidence, mum Patricia said they had no working boiler for three years until she arranged for a replacement to be fitted, having failed to get her landlords to resolve it. Asked by Ms Kearsley if they had "no heating at all between 2014 and 2017," Mrs Brooks replied: "Yeah."

She said that even after the new boiler was fitted, the radiators did not work properly, and the house would be cold and damp. "As soon as winter came in, that were it," she said. "It was freezing... when the heating was on it was still cold....Luke had got fed up with the state of the house," Mrs Brooks told the coroner in a written statement and added in court that her son had "stopped letting people in" as he became "embarrassed" by the state of his room.

The inquest continues.

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