Saddest Story Of The Year?

[Lonan3]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2134057_1,00.html

 

A woman lay dead for more than two years with her television still on before she was discovered, an inquest was told yesterday.

Joyce Vincent, 40, who once worked for the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, was found in January this year in the main room of her tiny North London flat, surrounded by unopened Christmas presents and with the heating still on.

Hornsey Coroner’s Court heard that relatives and neighbours had failed to raise the alarm over the two-year period in which Ms Vincent lay undiscovered.

“It’s very sad that no one raised the alarm,” Detective Inspector Michael Ainslie, the senior investigating officer, told the family in court. “This is a real tragedy and a very upsetting case.”

The discovery was made when an officer from the Metropolitan Housing Trust, the local housing authority, took a locksmith to the flat after thousands of pounds of rent arrears had accumulated.

They drilled open the front door to find a huge pile of unopened post, the earliest dated November 2003.

 

There was a time - even in big cities - when people knew their neighbours and cared enough to keep an eye on them or, at the very least, to notice if they weren't seen around the place for a while. Of course, since Thatcher's 'greed is good' government there has been "no such thing as society."

So, is this really (as I thought at first) a desperately sad, but isolated incident, or is it symptomatic of an increasingly uncaring and self-obsessed culture.

[Tea&Biscuits]

I actually live near this womans flat and I have done for about 8 years and i am thouroughly down about still being here - it is an urban jungle, very busy, intimidating and no one, i mean no one talks to each other. I have lived in my house for 2 years and dont really know my neighbours (aprt from when the irish gypsey were next door!)

 

This is one of the reasons I want to get out of London, I have had enough of that mentality, i mean i heard on the radio that the next door neigbour of the woman had seen loads of black flies on the window of her flat and that the window had been open for 2 years and he heard the TV on all the time but didnt think to raise the alarm, similary with her family? I mean what went on there?

It is scary in London at times and you do keep yourself to yourself but surely people must have been curious?

 

My mentality has gone all London aswell which i hate as im really friendly, but yesterday for example some woman tapped me on the shoulder and i turned round all defensive and she asked me where i got my bag from, and i was relieved, but also thought she was mental for talking to me a complete stranger! I had to check my attitude.

 

Also in London when you try to help people they think you are gona mug them, me and the man were in covent garden last sat, we took the stairs (168) down from the entrance to the tube and there was this elderly couple climbing the stairs, now fit grown men had gone past us, all wheezing and comlaining, so me and des were nearly at bottom and we see this old couple who had stopped for a breether already! so i goes "oh you prob shouldnt try and go up the stairs there is too many, maybe wait for th lift" they just looked at me like i was a murderer and were like "no its okay" i though, okay grandad have a heart attack then!!

 

Raaah Citys eh, give me a nice town any day!!

[germann]

More disturbing details from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4906992.stm

 

Some of Ms Vincent's relatives, including her sisters, attended the inquest at Hornsey Coroner's Court, held by Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker.

 

"I did notice a kind of rotten smell but the bins downstairs are strong and the stairwells smell with junkies.

 

"I did get a few bugs coming into my house so I had to keep the windows closed."

[Ean]

In that guy's defence he moved in after she had died, he assumed it was an empty flat.

 

It's amazing that her sisters hadn't had any contact with her for two years and thought nothing of it!

[Declan]

What gets me is she had a job. And not a casual one.

 

If someone doesn't turn up for work for a few days, doesn't the boss or a colleague try and see if they are ok.

[Tea&Biscuits]

Sometimes this is what is scary about London, I sometimes think, what would happen if i went missing and of who would raise the alarm, if i didnt have a boyf or mates in London tha i speak to regularly. I think it is easy to just slip through the net in big cities??

 

I am working for District Nurses in Islington at the moment, doing admin and the amount of people found dead in flats on there own is unbelievable. Also the amount of old people who die alone with no one in grimy little bedsits is terribly depressing.

 

Employer of that woman must have just thought she had packed the job in or something, prob tried to call her etc? its amazing that no one though to go round and see if she was okay and then when no answer after a while alert the police, but to be honest, i dont think the police would have been that helpful either?

 

I cant belive her TV was on for that long, how come she never got cut off???

 

Also I heard a statement from the housing trust saying they respect peeople privacy, so i guess we have so many "rights" these days that this shows where it backfires in a way? It brings up an interesting debate about how much companies or the gvmnt is responsible for your welbeing if no one else is????

 

I seriously think that this kind of thing goes on all the time, but we dont hear about it?

 

Mind you her fammo are pretty strange to have not wanted to get the door busted down or someting, but we dont know what goes on in familys aye?

 

Welll im counting my blessings and just feel so sorry for that woman.

[Gladys]

Yep, T&B, you can stick London for me too! The anonymity is something that may people prefer, but I just never felt comfortable with seeing people who I know I would never ever see again. It just felt strange. Everyone seems to move around in their own little bubble in central London. I mean its all very urbane and cultured, but there is no humanity!

 

Its marginally better in the suburbs, but not vastly different. Funny thing though, since I have moved back I have met two people who recognise me from Sutton! One is now a good friend. The other stopped me in the street and asked if I had lived in Sutton, I recognised her but couldn't for the life of me pin down exactly how I knew her back then! Can you believe it? Seems like you can take the girl out of the IOM, but you cannot take the IOM out of the girl!

 

There probably are very many stories like this one, but the fact that she was employed by a high profile company and was relatively young makes it more newsworthy than the very many cases that never come to the public's attention. Sad.

[Albert Tatlock]

This is a symptom of a selfish nation. When was the last time any of us checked on an elderly neighbour? Anything up to 50,000 pensioners die each year in the UK as a result of the cold winter - it's a disgrace - and has been going on for the last 25 years.

 

When did you last see an elderly person/couple in a pub? When did you last talk to an elderly person who was not a relative?

 

It's amazing how people go on about healthy living and telling everyone else what to do - but why? So we can die forgotten aged 95 in squalor, freezing our butts off trying to live on £100 a week or, if we're 'lucky' shoved into a home?

[lisner]

There was a time - even in big cities - when people knew their neighbours and cared enough to keep an eye on them or, at the very least, to notice if they weren't seen around the place for a while. Of course, since Thatcher's 'greed is good' government there has been "no such thing as society."

So, is this really (as I thought at first) a desperately sad, but isolated incident, or is it symptomatic of an increasingly uncaring and self-obsessed culture.

 

I sometimes believe that that the above sentiment is symptomatic of this very Island.

 

The Island often lags behind the UK a few years in its attitudes. For example at one time I knew everyone, for a few miles around, at least by name. I know very few now and no one seems interested in even saying good morning.

 

But Thatcher's 'greed is good' philosophy is certainly alive and kicking in IoM plc.

[Minxie]

The accommodation was "a refuge for victims of domestic violence" so it wasn't just a normal flat. For all we know her family might have assumed that she had 'disappeared' to get away from a violent spouse.

[Gladys]

The accommodation was "a refuge for victims of domestic violence" so it wasn't just a normal flat. For all we know her family might have assumed that she had 'disappeared' to get away from a violent spouse.

That makes it even worse! You assume such places are linked with social services or some kind of charitable organisation who would have been keeping an eye out for her! Not least, you would think that it would only be a staging post until she found somewhere safe and permanent, so why weren't they checking up on her to see if she was ready to move on and free the accommodation for the next victim?

[WilDDog]

The accommodation was "a refuge for victims of domestic violence" so it wasn't just a normal flat. For all we know her family might have assumed that she had 'disappeared' to get away from a violent spouse.

 

Saying that, the spouse could of found her.

 

It's another terrible and sad case. The world is seriously messed up.

[Pragmatopian]

I like London - been here for 6 years now, having grown up on the IoM.

 

I'm a firm believer that you only get out of a place what you put in. You can be lonely anywhere, and similarly you develop large social networks from anywhere.

[Roger Smelly]

dwatterson you hit the nail on the head.

 

In my travels i treat people how i expect to be treated, and i have never had one problem.

 

I always respect the elderly and would do anything for anyone if asked and i hope people would do the same for me.

 

I have been in london a few times and granted the london sq mile is bad but in places like richmond people are very helpful in my experience.

 

Sad how someones relatives never contacted her, shame on them i say.

 

I personally don't have a selfish bone in my body and thats the way i like it.

 

People may take advantage of that but at least i know in myself i tried.

 

When these selfish people realise to get to most out of life you must share, they are probably in a retirement home wishing they seen their family more.

 

Moral to the story is care for each other a bit more it don't cost a penny its free.