{"id":942539,"date":"2026-05-06T23:07:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T23:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/942539\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T23:07:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T23:07:16","slug":"my-son-could-still-be-here-heartbroken-mum-says-as-lovely-oldham-lad-dies-isolated-from-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/942539\/","title":{"rendered":"‘My son could still be here’ heartbroken mum says as ‘lovely’ Oldham lad dies isolated from family"},"content":{"rendered":"

A retired police officer said the case was \u201cparticularly striking\u201d and opportunities to take action were overlooked\"The<\/p>\n

A review said Joe had attended the Royal Oldham Hospital \u201cin considerable distress on several occasions\u201d in the months leading up to his death in 2024(Image: Dave Thompson\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n

A mum feels her son \u201ccould still be here\u201d if more had been done to help him after he was stabbed. Following a review into his death four years after the incident, the mum said she was left \u201cdumbfounded\u201d and \u201cshocked\u201d he had \u201creceived so little support\u201d.<\/p>\n

The man, referred to under the pseudonym Joe in an Oldham<\/a> Safeguarding Adults Board report, was found dead in a wooded area of Oldham in September 2024. He was 27 years old when he died.<\/p>\n

Following his death, the board commissioned a review led by David Mellor, a retired police officer which was published in April 2026. The purpose of the review is to look at whether any lessons needed to be learned.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to get the biggest stories straight to your inbox in our Daily Newsletter<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr Mellor said the case was \u201cparticularly striking\u201d due to \u201cthe rapid disengagement by services from working with Joe\u201d in the months before he died. He also said \u201cabuse in the form of suspected cuckooing and financial abuse and self-neglect may have contributed to [Joe\u2019s] death\u201d.<\/p>\n

Cuckooing is where vulnerable people are exploited by a criminal gang or individuals to use the property for criminal purposes such as drug-dealing, hiding weapons and other criminal activities<\/p>\n

In response, Dr Henri Giller, the independent chair of Oldham Safeguarding Adults Board, said all partner agencies “have committed to act in response” and the board will be “closely monitoring progress to ensure that the learning from Joe\u2019s circumstances leads to meaningful and lasting change across Oldham\u2019s safeguarding system to reduce the risk of similar incidents occurring in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having lived with his family until his early 20s, the review said Joe \u201csurvived a serious stabbing incident which took place when males armed with knives entered the family home in June 2020\u201d. Joe\u2019s mum said he \u201cnever got over it\u201d and \u201cwas reluctant to discuss the incident because she felt that he did not wish to relive it\u201d.<\/p>\n

According to Joe\u2019s aunt, Joe had been trying to protect his mum and his two younger siblings. Described by his family as a \u201clovely lad\u201d who was \u201cpleasant, caring, and helpful\u201d, the stabbing incident left him \u201ctortured\u201d and \u201cstarted taking drugs to blot things out\u201d.<\/p>\n

The mum said she \u201ceventually stepped away from supporting her son as it became ‘pointless’ because he would spend any money she gave him on alcohol and drugs and would pawn any phone she bought him\u201d.<\/p>\n

Over time, she said her son’s behaviour changed and he became \u201csuch an angry person\u201d and on one occasion, he barricaded himself in his flat. The mum said an arrest in July 2024 was the \u201cnail in his coffin\u201d as bail conditions isolated him from family support, adding this isolation \u201ctipped him over the edge\u201d.<\/p>\n

The family criticised local services over their response to their son. The review said his aunt \u201cwas very upset to read of the difficulties Joe experienced in the last few months of his life when several agencies closed his case and she felt that opportunities to make safeguarding referrals were missed\u201d<\/p>\n

His mum also said she \u201cfelt angry because she felt that if Joe had received the support he needed \u201che could still be here\u201d.<\/p>\n

The review said Joe had moved out of the family home following the stabbing incident \u201cafter a series of reported familial domestic abuse incidents in which he was perceived to be the perpetrator\u201d. When receiving support, he was described as \u201cangry and aggressive\u201d and his GP planned to refer him for an autism spectrum assessment and in 2023 he was imprisoned for common assault and obstructing police.<\/p>\n

In 2024, staff at the Pennine Care NHS<\/a> Foundation Trust believed Joe \u201cmay be experiencing a first episode of psychosis\u201d but the case was later closed. Before he died, the review said Joe was de-registered by his GP and attended the Royal Oldham Hospital \u201cin considerable distress on several occasions\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Mellow said: \u201cThere were indications that he was being financially exploited but opportunities to make safeguarding referrals were overlooked. With hindsight, the risks to Joe appeared to be escalating but this was not recognised by the various agencies with which he came into contact in the months before he died.\u201d<\/p>\n

An inquest will be held to look into Joe\u2019s death. A total of 16 recommendations have been made to local service providers, the Sanctuary Trust, and the Probation Service while good practice was found in six areas.<\/p>\n

Dr Henri Giller, the Independent Chair of Oldham Safeguarding Adults Board, said: \u201cOn behalf of Oldham Safeguarding Adults Board, I would like to extend our sincere condolences to Joe\u2019s family and friends. We are profoundly sorry for their loss and are grateful to Joe\u2019s mother and aunt for their valuable time and insight and the courage they showed in contributing to this review.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis review was undertaken to identify learning that can help prevent similar tragedies in the future. The review highlights examples of committed and compassionate practice by individual professionals, but it also identifies significant shortcomings in how risk was recognised, how services responded to non engagement, and how effectively agencies coordinated their safeguarding responses.<\/p>\n

“The review reinforces the need for more trauma informed practice, stronger professional curiosity and challenge and strengthening of responses to adults experiencing homelessness, exploitation, and self neglect.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Board are taking the findings of the review seriously and have accepted all its recommendations in full. Our priority is to learn from this case.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A retired police officer said the case was \u201cparticularly striking\u201d and opportunities to take action were overlooked A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":942540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,105,2465,1286,14984,32967,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-942539","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-manchester","13":"tag-oldham","14":"tag-oldham-council","15":"tag-oldham-royal","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116530148567072588","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=942539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/942540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=942539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=942539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=942539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}