Paul Lewis

POLICE and the health and social care watchdog are reviewing the case of a man who died in a burning bed after a coroner reached an “unlawful killing” finding.

The Tribune reported last week how St Pancras coroner Mary Hassell found gross negligence after an inquest into the death of 46-year-old Paul Lewis.

An MS sufferer who was unable to move or call for help, Mr Lewis died in a fire at his home in Hanley Gardens, Stroud Green, in August 2021.

The inquest had been told that his bed had been set alight by a candle that carers had left balancing on top of shoe boxes. Relatives gave heartbreaking details during the hearing that Mr Lewis had been alive for three minutes while engulfed in flames.

His care was managed by Islington Council’s contractor Snowball, which was criticised for having no record of giving staff any fire safety training in relation to Mr Lewis. A fire risk assessment for his home was conducted over the phone.

Snowball’s manager Sayeda Ahmed initially told the court Mr Lewis was not at risk of fire, but acknowledged he was a smoker who used candles.

Ms Hassell made the rare conclusion of “unlawful killing” after hearing several days of evidence during an inquest which had been adjourned more than once.

This week a Met spokesman said: “Police are making contact with the coroner to obtain the full findings of the inquest with a view to reviewing the investigation.”

Meanwhile the Care Quality Commission said it was also considering reopening its own investigation.

A spokesman said: “The CQC is reviewing further evidence given to the inquest into Mr Lewis’s death, as well as the conclusions of the coroner, to determine if further regulatory action may be justified in line with CQC’s legal powers, including whether there may be reasonable grounds for CQC to re-start a criminal investigation.”

It is understood the CQC are looking at whether a breach of regulated activity occurred after new evidence came to light at the inquest that carers applied a paraffin-based cream to Mr Lewis. In such circumstances, the CQC expect a fire risk assessment to be carried out.

Mr Lewis’s family has described feeling “extremely disappointed with the CQC” after its initial investigation, carried out seven months after Mr Lewis’s death, led to no findings in relation to the agency’s performance.

An inspection returned a verdict that Snowball was a “good” operator.

Mr Lewis’s former partner Emma Hall said: “I just can not get my head around their rationale. There were clearly no records or risk assessments in place and I don’t know on what they’ve based their findings.”

Coroner Mary Hassell had said in court last week that Ms Ahmed had shown “breathtaking complacency” in her approach to fire safety in Mr Lewis’s care.

Last week, Ms Ahmed said: “Investigations into Paul’s death have been carried out by the fire brigade and the police. In addition, at the time and in line with proper process, we reported the circumstances of his death to the local authority adult safeguarding unit and to our regulatory body, the Quality Care Commission (CQC).

“We have cooperated openly, fully and with complete transparency with all external investigations into Paul’s death and with the coroner’s inquest. We have already reviewed our policies and procedures, staff training and recruitment as well as the company’s health and safety and risk assessment procedures.”

The company said this week it had no further comment and had not been contacted by police or the CQC.

Islington Council said it was considering the inquest’s findings, adding: “We will be working with the Islington residents still under the care of Snowball to decide on next steps.”