Valin Blake died alone in his Birmingham home without heating or a toilet, despite repeated requests for help and intervention. There are now calls for his death to be investigated.
Valin Blake, left, died in squalid conditions at his home in Ravenshill Road, Yardley Wood
A tragic father found dead at his neglected home in Yardley Wood had been in desperate need of intervention and professional help, his grieving family said today.
Valin Blake, 52, who lived all his life in the neighbourhood, was described as a smiling, loving and polite man whose later life was blighted by drug addiction.
Warm comments have flooded in to a Facebook post announcing his sudden death as locals remembered him, bringing some comfort to his loved ones.
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But they say they cannot understand why more was not done by professionals to ‘save him from himself’ in his final weeks. There had been several referrals to agencies to intervene and help him, they said.
Valin died in his cold home that had no functioning toilet, several of its windows smashed in, no heating and no running hot water. The cause of death is under investigation but is thought to be drug related.
‘Why was he not sectioned for his own good? That’s a question we want to ask of social services and mental health services,” said family friend Helen, who is supporting Valin’s young sons. Valin’s mother is living in a nursing home nearby. He also leaves a father and other relatives.
Valin’s home had become uninhabitable, said Helen, yet he refused community and family offers of help.
Valin Blake, who died at home in squalid conditions
The family are asking questions about why, given the squalid conditions, nobody had professionally intervened more forcefully to take him into care, possibly by sectioning him. It was clear he was not coping, they said.
They recalled that police and social care staff had visited him in recent months to conduct safeguarding checks and recognised he needed help and that the property needed urgent attention.
“I thought it would be clear to them he did not have capacity,” said Helen. “You cannot believe in this day and age that any service at all would leave a person in that property.”
His sons, aged 18 and 21, who had not lived with him, spoke movingly of him as a ‘loving father’ who had ‘lost his way’ but who always remained kind and smiling despite his challenges.
“He was a gentle giant but he slowly had got more ill over time. Everyone around here knew him growing up, he’s lived in the area for 50 years and never moved. The home he is in now was where he was brought up.
“He was a proper local character. Even with his challenges, he was always extremely polite. He used to play football, worked, was a real pillar of the community, but his addiction made life very difficult,” said his elder son.
Of mixed Jamaican and Irish heritage, Valin was one of the first black people living in the area, and was subject to racial discrimination growing up. He married young but his bride died a short time after, from cancer. His descent into drugs began soon after, his son said.
Valin Blake on his wedding day, in happier times(Image: Blake family)
“But all the time he was such a kind, gentle soul with a deep heart, and always so polite, not at all aggressive,” his son added.
His condition worsened when his mother became ill and was moved into a nursing home, leaving him alone in the family property. In his latter months he had developed signs of psychosis but when checked over he always told people he was okay and doing well and wouldn’t let people visit, he said.
Helen, who is supporting the two sons through their bereavement, told how Valin helped her when she was a single parent living nearby and caring for her own poorly mother, who had Alzheimers. “He would regularly bring her back if she got lost while out locally, and helped me to keep going when I thought I couldn’t manage. He had such a heart of gold.”
His addiction had escalated in recent months and ‘he was lost’, added Helen.
“Professionals saw the way he was living and the conditions he was in, it was obvious he was not well at all.”
The outporing of kind comments on a Facebook post showed how he had touched people’s lives in small ways, she said.
Someone had recalled giving him £10 at Christmas and how they had to ‘literally beg him’ to take it. “He was always so grateful. He wasn’t an aggressive man, he was very loyal, and very respectful.”
His younger son said of his dad: “He had his problems and that but at the end of the day he was still a loved man, a son, a dad, a brother, a friend and a person.”
Another post said of him: “Your dad was a lovely person – he just lost his way in life, just like a lot of people do.”
In another comment, a poster wrote: “Your dad’s faults didn’t define him. He is a great loss to the community and everyone that knew him.”
The home in Ravenshill Road where Valin Blake was living up to his death
People spoke of acts of kindness towards him, including neighbours who gave him clothes, food and donations of cash.
Another added: “Valin loved both his boys and I’m sure he will be looking down on them now, still being the proud dad he has always been.”
The sons have launched a Gofundme appeal to help fund a proper funeral for their father.
It reads: “In loving memory of Valin Blake – Yardley Wood. Most of you will remember Valin around the community. Valin had been suffering a struggle with addiction for many years. Valin carried on smiling, struggling throughout his addiction. He passed away in heartbreaking circumstances with no heat, food or protection.”
On Christmas Eve his family had given him a new blanket, a camping stove and delivered a curry to him. Others in the community had delivered food to his door. The alarm was raised when food went untouched, added Helen. It is thought he died on Boxing Day, though he was found dead the following day, December 27.
She said: “I was one of the people that he trusted and spoke to. I could see that his capacity and physical appearance was deteriorating, and made referrals to get help.
“He remained a lovely person, he adored his boys, but he just could not cope and nobody seemed to know what to do for him. We think he was let down.”
He leaves his two sons, his mother and father, and other relatives. The family understand the death has been referred to the coroner and say they will be pressing for a full inquest.
We have reached out to Birmingham social services for comment.