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Home News

Man dies in Job Centre queue after being declared fit to work

The case seems cruelly reminiscent of the Ken Loach film I, Daniel Blake.

Jack Peat by Jack Peat
November 18, 2019
in News
Man dies in Job Centre queue after being declared fit to work

A man has passed away while waiting for an appointment in a job centre in South Wales.

The man, 65, was found slumped in his chair at 9.30am on Friday in Llanelli.

He was waiting for an appointment to discuss Jobseeker’s Allowance after being declared fit for work earlier this year.

I, Daniel Blake

In a case that seems cruelly reminiscent of the Ken Loach film I, Daniel Blake, customers and staff had rushed to help him and started CPR, but he died at the scene.

One witness told The Mirror: “I didn’t know him myself, but the man who was sat next to me told me that he had grown up with the guy.

“The man next to me told me that the poorly guy had diabetes and had been declared fit for work by the job centre earlier in the year but he was obviously ill.

“The ambulance came but he sadly died and they had to take his body out of the job centre, it was awful.”

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Looked quite unwell

Everyone in the building was asked to leave after the man collapsed.

It remained closed for the rest of the day.

The witness added: “This lady who worked there walked over to him after she thought he looked quite unwell and that’s when they realised he’d collapsed.

“Another woman and a man helped her put him on the floor and start CPR.

“We were all very shook up, it was a horrible situation that should have never happened.”

Urgent medical attention

A spokesperson for the Welsh Ambulance Service said: “We were called on Friday 15 November at approximately 09:33 am to reports of a person needing urgent medical attention on Stepney Street in central Llanelli.

“We responded with one rapid response vehicle, one specialised medical vehicle and one emergency ambulance.”

A spokesperson for Dyfed-Powys Police said: “Police in Llanelli responded to a report of the sudden death of a 65-year-old man at Llanelli Job Centre this morning (Friday, November 15).

“There are no suspicious circumstances. Next of kin and HM Coroner have been informed.”

A DWP spokesman said: “Our thoughts and those of the staff at Llanelli Jobcentre are with the family and friends at this time.”

Related: Children in poverty in working households has soared under Tory policies new study reveals

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Jack Peat

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE).He has contributed articles to The Sunday Telegraph, BBC News and writes for The Big Issue on a weekly basis.Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Comments 16

  1. nlygo says:
    3 weeks ago

    This is all a bit weird.

    The guy was 65 – and since 1 January 2014, if you claim Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Allowance and are aged 62 or over, you are no longer required to engage with the compulsory activation process and are not subject to penalty rates for non-engagement with the JobCentre.

    So he shouldn’t have had an appointment.

    Reply
    • Tricia Neville says:
      3 weeks ago

      Not even to register for Jobseeker’s Allowance? Does it just happen automatically when you are removed from another kind of benefit?

      Reply
    • Maureen Dickinson says:
      3 weeks ago

      The DWP makes anyone wanting any kind of benefit jump through or crawl through hoops. I have been humiliated so many times.

      Reply
  2. Peter Blake says:
    3 weeks ago

    This is Tory Britain today all very well to say we are sorry But to late now for this Man

    Reply
  3. M A Jones says:
    3 weeks ago

    “Everyone in the building was asked to leave after the man collapsed.”

    So will the people (victims of the system) who missed their appointments now be sanctioned?! I wouldn’t be in the least surprised it they were. The whole system is utterly sickening and the architects of the system who didn’t listen to the warnings about inherent flaws should be made to face legal action.

    Reply
  4. Raymond Whiteway-Roberts says:
    3 weeks ago

    A comment from the DWP needs to be forthcoming on this centre’s management. There needs to be accountability.

    Reply
  5. Mark says:
    3 weeks ago

    How synical of the DWP …

    Reply
  6. Zeljko Cipris says:
    3 weeks ago

    Even in times of chattel slavery, the old and the sick were allowed to stop working…

    Reply
  7. Hayley Jones says:
    3 weeks ago

    I get staff will of been upset and traumatised by the situation but the DWP spokesperson should of said their thoughts are with the family first and then their staff. Just my opinion. The system is an absolute failure and farce.

    Reply
    • Jim Eds says:
      3 weeks ago

      Hayley Jones, re-read, it says their thoughts AND those (the thoughts) of the staff are with the friends and family.

      Reply
  8. Robert Wragg says:
    3 weeks ago

    this is happening far to often, not that long ago a severely crippled man in a wheel chair who couldn’t do anything for himself was declared fit, who is making these barbaric decisions as they want locking up.

    Reply
  9. Nicola Overton says:
    3 weeks ago

    This epitomises the system in a single story- the governement aren’t ashamed, they’d rather see us poorer people extinguished like rats in a sewer. They have no comprehension of what ‘austerity’ means for the working people. We work, we earn, with get it taken away at a moments notice if we cannot work, or we need further help.

    The UC credit system is a failure, the sick thing is- it doesn’t affect the Old Etonians that allegedly run this Country (run it in to the ground more like). It affects us- the working Mum’s and Dad’s, this disabled and the long term ill. Do you honestly think that Parliament give two hoots about us? They don’t live in austerity- but we have to. The class divide at it’s finest.

    Do you think if Boris Johnson actually got off his soap box, stopped lamenting about Brexit and actually concentrated on the poverty under his own nose, in THE UK- he might actually SEE first hand the state we are all in because of their poor leadership skills. Would he care? I sincerely doubt it. Just like this poor deceased man, we are statistics… nothing more.

    Reply
    • Yvonne Mason says:
      3 weeks ago

      Nicola Overton, you absolutely nailed. I couldn’t agree more!

      Reply
  10. Grendel 59 says:
    3 weeks ago

    If he was 65 – which he was – he was entitled to his State pension – not sure why he would have been asked to attend –

    Reply
  11. Patricia Davidson says:
    3 weeks ago

    I have worked in the NHS for 55 years, 48 of these in general practice. Just who is declaring people fit for work. Why it’s people who are not medically qualified in any way. They are people who ask a series of questions which are entered on a laptop and sent to more unqualified people. Points are awarded based on answers and observations. This is absolutely atrocious behaviour. It is Tory driven and farmed out to groups (first Atos, now Capita). It is inhuman, and disgraceful.

    Reply
  12. Kevin says:
    2 weeks ago

    Even if you are unable to move because of arthritis from head to toe job centre says you are going to be taken off esa so you have to start looking for a job

    Reply

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