‘Why didn’t anyone check on him?’: Man lay dead in flat for five years

A man lay dead in his flat for five years and was only found when bailiffs came round because of arrears on his service charge.

Charles Dwyer, who was aged 77 when he died, had lived in the flat in Ryder House, High Path, South Wimbledon, for at least 25 years, but on July 18, 2019, he was found dead after bailiffs knocked down his front door, instructed by Clarion Housing.

A post-mortem could not determine the cause or time of death but his family said there was five years’ worth of unopened post dating back to 2013 piled up in the property.

Mr Dwyer had been estranged from his family for many years.

His niece said they had tried to get in contact with him as he had the plot rights to their grandmother’s grave and her father, Mr Dwyer’s brother, had recently died – they wanted to bury him next to her.

It was only then the family discovered he was dead and had been so for about five years.

The family had not been notified of his death, so he was buried in a “pauper’s grave” which Ms Dwyer said was “painful” for the family.

Ms Dwyer said: “Even though we had lost touch with him, we all broke down in tears when we found out what had happened. We felt so guilty.

“But then we were appalled that a company and the council left him like that. He was in his 70s. Why did no one check on him?

“We think Clarion are trying to get the flat back based on a default for not paying ground rent, but he was dead.

“My poor uncle, we think he had a heart attack in bed. It’s hard to think that’s how he ended. If my dad was still alive he’d be distraught.”

Mr Dwyer, who was a cab driver for about 50 years, bought his flat from Merton council in the early 1990s. They sold the freehold to the property to housing association Clarion Housing.

Mr Dwyer had been paying ground rent to Clarion who manage properties in the building and his family allege that neighbours had contacted the housing association to say they had not seen him for a long time.

The family claim the neighbour said that Clarion “didn’t seem interested” and said to him “you would smell something if he had died”.

Clarion say they visited the property four times and thought it was a “case of abandonment”, so did not try to force entry.

The family also claim Clarion prevented them from gaining access to the flat after giving them the keypad code months before. They are now in the midst of a legal battle to gain possession of the property.

They have accused Clarion of trying to take possession of the flat, after allowing the family to gain access. The property sits in an area that is part of a regeneration project by Clarion.

Clarion say they have been granted forfeiture of the property by the County Court.

A spokeswoman for Clarion said: “We are deeply saddened by the passing of Mr Dwyer. Mr Dwyer was a homeowner of a property where Clarion was the freeholder.

“After receiving reports from neighbours that the property was empty and had been for some time, and having not received any ground rent, Clarion staff visited the property on four separate occasions and found nothing to suggest the property had not been simply abandoned.

“We made enquiries with the police and social services and were unable to identify Mr Dwyer’s whereabouts. Unfortunately, Mr Dwyer had not declared any next of kin for us to contact.

“The court considered our application for forfeiture based on the evidence provided and granted an Order for Forfeiture in 2019.

“This year, we understand a relative of Mr Dwyer has instructed solicitors to act on their behalf in the administration of Mr Dwyer’s estate. We are in correspondence with the solicitors and they are considering the various options open to Mr Dwyer’s relative.”

Merton council said it would not comment on the case.

Pictured top: Charles Dwyer when he served in the RAF (Picture: Family handout)