Family ‘deprived of answers’ into Harrogate boy’s homeless hostel death

The family of a 16-year-old Harrogate schoolboy who died in a homeless hostel say they have been “deprived of answers” after an inquest into his death concluded.

Benjamin Nelson-Roux, a former student at St Aidan’s Church of England High School, died in Harrogate on April 8, 2020.

He was found dead at a Harrogate Borough Council-run homeless hostel on Robert Street where he had been living since February that year.

A coroner concluded yesterday that the 16-year-old’s death was “unascertained”. A full post-mortem was not carried out due to the covid pandemic.

In a statement outside the coroner’s office in Northallerton, Kate Roux, Ben’s mother, said it had deprived the family of answers.

She said:

“We will never know the medical cause of Ben’s death, because no invasive post-mortem was carried out.

“The coroner’s service has deprived us of the opportunity for answers.

“We do know that he lived in fear, pain and self-loathing for the last year of his life. Although we begged for help, no meaningful support or even basic safeguarding was put in place.

“We know that this is still happening to children and families in the UK and at the time of giving evidence no significant changes have been made to practices or provision by the agencies involved.”

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Ben was placed in the hostel on Robert Street in February 2020 until alternative accommodation was found.

However, the inquest heard concerns from social workers and other agencies that the hostel was not suitable for him due to him being at risk of exploitation.

Following his conclusion at a hearing in Northallerton, Jon Heath, senior coroner for North Yorkshire, issued a prevention of future deaths report.

Mr Heath said he would to write to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to raise concern over the lack of under-18s facilities for drug misuse.

He also intended to write to North Yorkshire County Council to raise concern over why alternative accommodation was not sought outside of the county.

In response to the outcome of the inquest, Stuart Parsons, the county council’s corporate director of children and young people’s services, said:

“Our heartfelt sympathies remain with Ben’s family, and his loss has been extremely distressing for everyone involved in this tragic case.

“Ben received coordinated support involving children’s services, police, housing, a youth justice drug and substance misuse worker, and health and mental health professionals, involving a psychologist and a professor in forensic psychiatry.  

“Ben received support with his drug use prior to and during his time in the hostel. The coroner noted that social workers highlighted drugs misuse support as a priority need for Ben and that he developed a strong, open relationship with the substance misuse officer. 

“The coroner found that the accommodation did not contribute to Ben’s death. It was recognised that the hostel was a temporary last resort after a county wide search failed to find anything more suitable. By that point, Covid restrictions meant that the potential for other accommodation was removed. Alternative accommodation had been provided to Ben, but this was not successful. 

“Ben was never in the care of North Yorkshire County Council. The coroner found that his social worker correctly decided through regular contact with Ben that he had capacity and at 16 years old was able to refuse to come into local authority care. The coroner concluded that the county council was not avoiding him being in their care and, in fact, would have welcomed it.

“Social workers had involved the correct parties in supporting Ben, all of whom voluntarily attended meetings along with Ben’s parents. His social worker was seeing Ben much more often than would have been the case under statutory child protection and many other agencies were involved.

“The social worker’s aim was to try to restore relationships so that Ben could return home, as it was accepted this was the best place for him to be. 

“In this type of inquest, the court can reflect on instances where there may have been missed opportunities to act that may have prevented a death. The coroner did not find that any instances in this case on the part of any of the agencies involved.

“The North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children’s Partnership undertook a ‘learning review’ and recommendations were made to services, considering the views of Ben’s family. 

“Once received, we will respond to the coroner’s report in accordance with Regulations 29.”

Trevor Watson, Harrogate Borough Council’s director of economy, environment and housing, said: 

“Although only knowing and working with Ben Nelson-Roux for a short time, we were deeply saddened by his untimely death and would once again like to offer our most sincere condolences to his family.

“Hostel accommodation was provided to Ben as a last resort to prevent him from street homelessness. During this time Ben received extensive support from multiple agencies.

“In his conclusion, the coroner found that, on the balance of probabilities, it could not be concluded that the accommodation had contributed to Ben’s death. This was only intended to be a short term, interim placement whilst a room in specialist young person supported accommodation became available. Unfortunately, this was subject to delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.

“In the next few days, we expect to receive a report from the coroner which we will carefully consider and respond to.”

Harrogate schoolboy, 16, death in homeless hostel ‘unascertained’, coroner concludes

A corner has concluded that the death of a 16-year-old Harrogate schoolboy in an adult homeless hostel was “unascertained”.

Benjamin Nelson-Roux, a student at St Aidan’s Church of England High School, died in Harrogate on April 8, 2020.

His body was found by his mum, Kate, at Harrogate Borough Council-run homeless hostel Cavendish House on Robert Street. He had been living there since February of that year.

The hostel was intended for adults and has nine bedsits.

A wide-ranging 12-day inquest was held into Ben’s death and concluded this morning at North Yorkshire Coroner’s Office in Northallerton.

The hearing explored the decision by North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council to place Ben in an adult homeless hostel, given his age, vulnerability, and what was known about his lifestyle at the time.

Death ‘unascertained’

Jon Heath, senior coroner for North Yorkshire, concluded Ben’s death was “unascertained”, but noted that “multiple drugs” had been found in his body.

Mr Heath said there was no evidence of any third party involvement.

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He added that the accommodation provided to the 16-year-old was “unsuitable”, but it could not be determined whether this contributed to his death.

The inquest heard that the hostel had no security on April 7 and April 8 due to a contract issue.

However, Mr Heath said it could not be determined whether any other accommodation would have prevented his death.

The inquest, which was held last year, heard how Ben’s body was found by his mother Kate after she forced entry into his room at around 4pm.

She carried out CPR until a paramedic arrived. However, he was certified dead at 4.50pm.

A toxicology report found several drugs in his bloody, including diazepam, ecstasy and cocaine.

Dr Carl Gray, consultant pathologist at Harrogate District Hospital, said he was unable to undertake a full post-mortem on Ben’s body as it took place during the first covid lockdown.

He told the inquest:

“The cause of death cannot be certain as there was no internal dissections due to the pandemic. Multiple drugs were present but were low and the effects were debatable.”

Ben was placed in the hostel on Robert Street in February 2020 until alternative accommodation was found.

The inquest heard concerns from social workers and other agencies that the hostel was not suitable due to the 16-year-old being at risk of exploitation from county lines drugs dealers.

The hearing at Northallerton also heard that Ben had struggled with drug misuse for several years.

Prevention of future deaths

Following his conclusions, Mr Heath told the court that he intended to issue a prevention of future deaths report.

Mr Heath said he would to write to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to raise concern over the lack of under-18s facilities for drug misuse.

He also intended to write to North Yorkshire County Council to raise concern over why alternative accommodation was not considered outside of the county.

Inquest to explore how Harrogate boy, 16, died in adult homeless hostel

An inquest will investigate how a 16-year-old Harrogate schoolboy, who was exploited by county lines drug dealers and struggled with mental health issues, died in a homeless hostel for adults.

Benjamin Nelson-Roux, a student at St Aidan’s Church of England High School, died in Harrogate on April 8 2020. His body was found by his mother, Kate.

The North Yorkshire Coroner’s Office held a second pre-inquest review in Northallerton today to review the evidence ahead of a full inquest.

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Jon Heath, senior coroner for North Yorkshire, listened to submissions from lawyers acting on behalf of the family as well as the various agencies involved in the case. Mr Heath said:

“In the full inquest I must consider the risk to Benjamin and the responsibility Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council had for him.

“He was placed in this hostel because it was staffed 24 hours a day. The hostel is for adults. Benjamin was 16-years-old. He was deemed to be ‘at significant risk of death’ just two days before he died.”

Mr Heath revealed that he would call 23 witnesses at the full inquest, which is due to be heard over 12 days on a date to be determined before July.