Army veteran and his wife die in tragic ‘suicide pact’ after becoming ‘too poor to live through the winter’

The Daily Mail:

  • Couple had to walk ten miles a week to a soup kitchen for free food
  • Charity call for investigation after couple ‘slipped through the net’
  • Mark and Helen Mullins kept food in plastic bags in their garden because they couldn’t afford a fridge
  • Driven to despair at having to live off £57.50 a week
  • Poverty-stricken pair found dead in home last Friday

By Chris Parsons

Last updated at 2:03 PM on 9th November 2011

An Army veteran and his wife were found dead in their home after becoming so poor they were living ‘hand to mouth’ on food handouts.

Mark and Helen Mullins died in an apparent suicide pact after being reduced to crushing poverty at their rundown home in Bedworth, Warwickshire.

The couple were reduced to despair at having to live off just £57.50 a week, and had to walk ten miles each week to a soup kitchen to collect free vegetables.

Tragic: Mark and Helen Mullins could not face another freezing winter on the poverty line, according to neighboursTragic: Mark and Helen Mullins could not face another freezing winter on the poverty line, according to neighbours

Military man: Mr Mullins served as a PE teacher in the Army but fell on hard times after leaving the serviceMilitary man: Mr Mullins served as a PE teacher in the Army but fell on hard times after leaving the service

Former soldier Mark, 48, and Helen, 59, who had learning difficulties, ‘slipped through the net’ and were found side-by-side in their home after not having access to the right benefits.

Police said at this stage they are treating the deaths as unexplained and they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths.

Today Mencap, who work with people with learning disabilities, called for an investigation into the death.

Mark Goldring, the charity’s chief executive, said: ‘This is a tragic case and this couple have clearly fallen through the net.

‘We believe that there needs to be an independent inquiry to establish the circumstances which led to their deaths and what went wrong.

‘With the ever tightening eligibility criteria to access social care we are concerned that it is becoming increasingly difficult for people with a mild learning disability to get the advice and support they need.’

The couple had just one income from Mark’s benefits for the past two years, after he claimed his wife’s benefits were stopped.

He had not served in the forces for long enough to claim a pension and left under a cloud amid claims he was an alcoholic, friends said.

Mr Mullins was a PE instructor in the Army but fell on hard times after leaving the service.

She suffered from learning difficulties and social services took her 12-year-old daughter away last year after she was deemed to be incapable of caring for her.

As a result, her child benefits were stopped. She was ineligible to claim Jobseekers Allowance because she was not deemed fit to work.

Friends claimed although she would have been entitled to incapacity benefit, the couple feared Helen would be put into care so did not get the benefit.

They married in July this year despite them both being in a ‘point of crisis’ living in a house they could not afford to keep.

Charity workers have demanded how the ‘wonderful’ couple slipped through the net after not receiving the support they wanted from the state.

Run-down: The property that Mark and Helen Mullins shared as they lived on £57.50 per weekRun-down: The property that Mark and Helen Mullins shared as they lived on £57.50 per week

In a poignant documentary filmed earlier this year, Mark spoke of the couple’s daily struggle to survive after having their benefits cut.

 

WHY THEY WERE LEFT ON £57.50 PER WEEK

Mark and Helen Mullins were left living on a measley £57.50 per week in a run-down property which has now been boarded up.

They would have received an additional £20.30 per week in child benefit before their 12-year-old was taken off them.

Helen was not eligible for disability benefit despite having learning difficulties because they feared she would be put into care if the full extent of her problems were known, friends said.

Mark had not been in the forces for long enough to claim a pension.

He said: ‘We couldn’t sign on the dole, we couldn’t get the incapacity established, we couldn’t get the disability established so basically we’re living on very little, hand-to-mouth.

‘We’re surviving on food hand-outs and we live in one room of our property, because obviously we can’t afford to heat the rest.

‘What we do is the food that we govern is put into a big pot which I make up into a broth which we put into household bags which keeps us going through the week.

‘We don’t have a fridge, we don’t have a freezer. We put the food in the shed.’

Mr Mullins, who suffered abuse as a child before joining the Army, in the documentary blamed social services for failing to help him and his wife.

He said: ‘I think the system is very unkind. We have lost count of how many appeals we have had, we’ve got reams of paperwork and had help from the Citizens Advice Bureau and independent advocates.

‘We’ve had to fight tooth and nail every step of the way to get benefits.’

Coventry city centre: With more than 10,000 looking for work in the city, Mr Watson and Ms Derrig expected more than the two responses they received

Mr and Mrs Mullins were forced to walk ten miles each week into Coventry city centre to a soup kitchen where they could get free vegetables

Former soldier Mark added: ‘The Jobcentre decided Helen couldn’t sign on as she was incapable of employment as she has no literacy and numeracy skills. We’re living hand to mouth.’

Salvation Army leader and leading Coventry charity worker Kervin Julien met the couple after they walked from Bedworth to Coventry to eat at a soup kitchen he ran in the city centre.

He told the Coventry Telegraph: ‘Mark talked about the difficulties they were having accessing the correct benefits. He also talked about the authorities taking Helen’s daughter away from her but not acknowledging her mental health problems.

‘I did see Mark two or three weeks ago. He was really upset. He said he and Helen had been staying with relatives and friends to try and avoid the authorities, as they believed they wanted to section Helen.

‘Mark was absolutely devoted to Helen… they just wanted support’

‘Mark was absolutely devoted to Helen and didn’t want to be separated from her – they just wanted support.

Warwickshire Police said Mr and Mrs Mullins were found at their house in Bedworth on Thursday November 4.

Those who knew the couple believe they may have been there for up to two weeks before neighbours and relatives raised the alarm.

One neighbour said yesterday: ‘They obviously couldn’t face another freezing winter and felt they had no other choice but to kill themselves.’

Tony Lloyd, deputy leader of Nuneaton and Bedworth Council, said: ‘We are saddened to hear about the deaths.’

‘We are working closely with the police as they carry out their investigations, and therefore there is very little information we can release about the couple at this time.

A Warwickshire Police spokesman said: ‘We’re waiting for toxicology tests to establish how the two people died.’

  • For confidential support call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

8 Replies to “Army veteran and his wife die in tragic ‘suicide pact’ after becoming ‘too poor to live through the winter’”

  1. What a desolate reflection of the times we live in. Support there for every Tom, Dick & Ali except those who are in genuine need. The authorites have alot to account for and should be held accountable. They gave these vulnerable people no support, let them live on £58 a week, takes this poor’s lady 12 year old and then want to section her! What about all those charities that the public so generously support. But who cares!

  2. if they were muslims it would have made headlines.
    or perhaps occupy (insert favourite shithole here) activists.

    this state is computerized, full of bloody cameras and petty bureocrats.
    so many forms to fill in you could paper the bloody moon yet still they fuck up badly.
    lets hope that some useless mouth doesn’t loose their pension over this.
    just their neck.

  3. Yet muslims are thriving on aid from the state?

    Where was the help for this man who served his country? What kind of f*ucked up world is this when a country will give more than sufficient aid and solace to immigrant colonists and will withold sufficient aid to genuine citizens who have fought for and helped build their country? Heads should roll.

  4. They were British, of course a liberal government won’t help their own, they prefer to buy votes for the immigrants.

  5. This is typical of the times we are living in. Our traiterous governments only cares for the imported arselifters. They don’t give a damn for their own ethnical citizens. They just wants us to die as soon as possible so that they can turn our nations into pislamic hellholes. Until that goal can be achieved, they want us to STFU and continue to pay our taxes to the bitter end. This poor couple doesn’t mean anything to traitors like Cameron and his ilk. Only koranimals like Chowderhead are important to them as they are going to be the new population of the british isles in the not too distant future. The original english, welsh and scots are either going to be converted to pislam, dhimmified, driven out of the country or exterminated. That is their diabolical plan.

  6. The reason this does not happen to minority groups in England is they specifically have government funding for claims advisers and interpretors to help them identify any financial benefits that they can claim.Premises are provided free by local councils.Should specific funding appear for perhaps job training the whole group is encouraged to apply as a block.These schemes funds are quickly used up and the indigenous population finds out from the local press after the schemes have been exhausted.Any scheme or funding specifically for the indigenous population of England would be deemed as “racist” by the leftist bureaucrats that control allocation of resources.

  7. Bilbo, if that couple had been member of the Homo inshallensis species, this is more likely to resemble what their welfare-benefit-funded lifestyle would have been like.