Army

Family Protest Over Death Of Former Soldier

The family of a former soldier who died after his benefits were stopped has led a protest against the government.

David Clapson had been a Lance Corporal in the Royal Signals, serving in Belfast at the height of the troubles in the 1970’s. But he was forced to leave the British Army to become a carer for his elderly mother.

Eventually, he found himself out of work, and became reliant on Jobseekers Allowance of £71.70 a week. David was ill himself. He had Type 1 Diabetes, and relied on insulin injections to keep him going.

In the summer of 2013, he had his benefits stopped for a month, after missing two appointments. 18 days later, he was found dead. He was 59.

There was no food in his stomach, and virtually nothing to eat in his flat. He had £3.44 in his bank account. Crucially, his electricity card had no credit, meaning the fridge where his insulin was kept chilled, was not working.

A coroner found that the lack of insulin caused David’s death. David’s sister Gill Thompson believes there is a link between David’s demise and his lack of benefits.

She led a demonstration against benefits cuts outside the Department for Work and Pensions, and delivered a petition, calling for a public inquiry into his death.

The Department says it sympathises with the Clapson family, but claims it phoned David during his month without benefits, to ask him if he wanted to apply for a hardship payment.

To do this, David would have had to fill in a form 16 pages long. His sister says he struggled to fill in forms at the best of times.

A few days after the phone call, David was found dead.

This isn't the first time Gill has campaigned for her brother.

A previous petition led to a Parliamentary Select Committee inquiry, in March 2015, which made 26 recommendations regarding benefits cuts and vulnerable people.

It included a recommendation for an independent investigation, which was refused.

The MP who instigated the Parliamentary Select Committee inquiry, Shadow Minister for Disabled People, Debbie Abrahams, said:

“By refusing to implement the majority of the recommendations in the cross party inquiry the Government is ignoring the evidence of inappropriate sanctioning and the effects on sick and disabled people.”

The Department for Work and Pensions says it has accepted some of the recommendations. It told us:

“The Department is currently developing a new Work and Health Programme to support people with health conditions and disabilities and those who are very long term unemployed.

"We have supplemented existing guidance to illustrate how conditionality can be tailored to take account of individual claimant’s circumstances, where they have complex needs.”

It has also agreed to publish figures on the numbers of applications and awards for hardship payments, which can pay back up to 80 percent of a claimant’s benefit.

But David’s family say this isn’t enough. They want a new inquiry, and an inquest into David’s death. They plan to continue campaigning until David’s death can be explained, and accounted for.