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Repairs were not made on house where pregnant mum died Stab accused
LANDLORD FACES COURT OVER DAMP BY ALEX CAMPBELL
alex.campbell@thesentinel.co.uk
A LANDLORD is to be prosecuted for failing to repair damp and mould problems at a house where a 25-year-old pregnant mum died suddenly with a chest condition. Stoke-on-Trent City Council is taking legal action after the landlord refused calls for repairs to be carried out at the Fenton home where Stacy Bowman died in her sleep. Widower Lee Bowman believes the condition of the property may have contributed to her death. Now Lee is demanding to know why the council did not use its powers to repair the property and recover its costs from the landlord. The 32-year-old barman, who has moved to Rhyl following Stacy’s death, said: “Stacy went to sleep and never
HAPPIER TIMES: Lee and Stacy Bowman on their wedding day. woke up. The worst part was when the paramedics came and said they couldn’t do anything. It was the worst moment of my life. The damp and the mould was really bad.” The Land Registry states the owner of the property to be Saint Pir Pandariman.
Mum-of-one Stacy, who is believed to have complained of several chest infections after moving into the Oldfield Street house in August, was five months’ pregnant with the newlywed couple’s first child. The Sentinel has learned the council received a complaint about the condition of the two-bedroom terrace from a previous tenant. Environmental health officers inspected the property after the Bowmans moved in and served the landlord with an enforcement notice making them legally obliged to complete the work by November 25. Inspectors visited again on December 2 and discovered the landlord had still not carried out the repairs. Stacy died on December 4. A post mortem revealed the cause of death to be inflammation of the heart and lungs.
Tony Oakman, director of people services at the council, said: “Shortly after Mr Bowman moved into his rented property in August 2011 an environmental health officer inspected it. “This inspection revealed some repair issues. “While these issues, we believe, would not have had a significant impact on the occupiers’ health or safety, the housing standard team served an enforcement notice on the landlord requiring them to complete the repair works by November 25. “During a re-inspection on December 2 it was identified that the landlord had not completed the repair works. “The council is preparing a prosecution case against the landlord for not carrying out the repairs.” Fenton-based Mr Pandariman was unavailable for comment yesterday.
due in court
A MAN was due to appear in court today charged with attempted murder. George Simpson, aged 58, was expected to attend a preliminary hearing at Stafford Crown Court. Simpson, of Beverley Drive, Bentilee, is accused of attempting to kill 49-year-old mother-of-six Carol Bailey. Carol, of Abbey Hulton, suffered stab wounds in an incident in Abbey Hulton Road on May 21. The grandmother was taken to the University Hospital of North Staffordshire after being injured with a screwdriver. The mother-of-six is now being cared for at home by her family.
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