‘I jumped in a skip to find my dead brother’s things’

A man has accused a council of throwing away his brother’s belongings after he died while living in emergency accommodation.

Simon Byrne told the BBC he had arranged with Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC) to collect his brother Chris’s personal items, but was “crushed” to find them dumped in a nearby skip.

Chris, 29, who died of a drug overdose in April 2022, had been living in Kendal Court, a troubled block of flats in Newhaven, where at least 10 other people died between 2016 and 2021.

A BHCC spokesperson said some items were “unfortunately disposed of” by its cleaning contractor and has apologised for any distress caused.

Mr Byrne said his brother’s belongings, such as photos and items left over from his school days, were ruined – except for some set aside in a small suitcase.

“When someone is in a council property in a very vulnerable position, they can be erased off the face of the earth. There’s nothing of Chris left,” he said.

The 30-year-old described how he jumped into the skip by the side of a busy road to recover what he could, two days after learning of his brother’s death.

“It was absolutely crushing because Chris had such a personality,” said Simon. “He had lots and lots of interests.

“He was such a nice guy.”

Mr Byrne said mismanagement and miscommunication were to blame for what happened, and it showed the local authority “doesn’t care” about vulnerable people in its care.

“People at Kendal Court don’t have anyone that would fight for them,” Simon said, explaining his brother had been in care and struggled with addiction.

“Chris was not only abandoned in life, he was abandoned in death as well.”

BHCC told the BBC it no longer used Kendal Court as emergency housing.

Mr Byrne said the council did not contact him after Chris died. Instead, he said he was told by Chris’s former foster parent, who had been contacted when the flat was cleared.

He said he complained to the local authority, but BHCC had not directly apologised to him for what happened, adding that he wanted basic recognition of what he called its mistake.

“Truth is, you cannot change the past, but you can have people try to avoid it happening again in the future,” Simon said.

BHCC said in a statement: “During the process of cleaning the property and making it suitable for the next of kin to visit, some items were unfortunately disposed of by our cleaning contractor.

“We do understand how important someone’s belongings are to their friends and family and apologise for any additional distress and upset this caused in relation to this very sad loss.”

It said it no longer used the company involved in the clearing of Chris’s flat and it was “confident our current contractors share our expectation that people’s belongings are handled in a sensitive way and, where appropriate, passed to the next of kin”.