Cal's Story

"Cal is a female dependent drinker in her 40s of East European heritage, living in very poor circumstances. A few months ago, she tried to burn some rubbish in her sink. Neighbours smelled smoke and called the fire service. At the subsequent fire service home safety check, the officer described the situation as the worst he had encountered. In addition to rubbish, cigarette ends, empty bottles and discarded food, there was animal faeces everywhere including on her feet. There were at least three cats in the property.

This led to a safeguarding alert to the local authority. Adult social care attempted to visit Cal on three occasions but she failed to answer the door; and when spoken to on the phone, she insisted that she was fine and did not need any help. As a result, the adult social care inquiries ceased.

However, the fire officer remained very concerned about the risk posed to, and by, this woman and the Fire Service decided to make a referral to the local authority under Article 2 of the Human Rights Act citing a threat to her right to life and a threat to the lives of her neighbours because of the danger of fire. This encouraged social care services to become more actively involved."

This story comes from Alcohol Change UK's publication 'How to use legal powers to safeguard highly vulnerable dependent drinkers'.