A coroner reopened an inquest on Wednesday (July 2) into the death of 76-year-old Robert Price after hearing he’d had “a long history” of crime reports and safeguarding referrals.
Senior coroner Graeme Irvine said his inquiry would have to investigate whether state failures had resulted in missed opportunities to save Mr Price’s life.
The pensioner died from burns and smoke inhalation after the teens, one of whom was from Romford, pushed a lit firework through a broken window at his house in Oval Road North, Dagenham, in July 2024.
They were jailed at the Old Bailey earlier this year after pleading guilty to arson and manslaughter.
“I believe that there was a number of missed opportunities prior to Robert’s death,” his brother Dennis Palmer told the coroner.
“He was subjected to horrendous abuse from the local people and the local authority knew about this and I don’t think they did anything to help him, to be quite honest with you.
“That’s just my opinion and the family’s opinion – that the local authority should have helped more with Robert and they never.
“There was time and time again that he was subjected to abuse from the local youths and in the end, they killed him. I’m sorry.”
“No, please don’t apologise, Mr Palmer,” replied the coroner. “I agree with what you say and that’s why I’m going to reopen the inquest.
“It seems to me that your brother’s death was tragic and it was a horrible, horrible death. I’m very sorry for your loss and I want to make sure that his death is looked at closely to ensure that lessons are learned.”
The coroner told East London Coroner’s Court that the judge who sentenced the two teens had sent him information indicating the criminal proceedings had not told the full story.
Lawyers and police officers confirmed the Metropolitan Police’s professional standards department was investigating concerns in liaison with the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Barrister Adam Clemens, representing the Met, said: “I accept that there is a long history of Merlin reports and referrals to the local authority and the like.”
Merlin reports are computer records noting concerns about vulnerable people.
Det Ch Insp Phil Clarke added: “There were numerous reports of crime from Mr Price around antisocial behaviour, harassment, criminal damage that occurred over a period of two years.”
The Old Bailey sentencing hearing was told local youths would “make his life hell”.
“Kids would disturb him,” friend John Shoesmith testified, saying Mr Price’s windows had been regularly smashed by local children.
The most recent incident was just three days before he was killed, when a brick was put through his window.
Det Ch Insp Clarke said the teens who killed Mr Price had not been linked by police to any other incidents involving Mr Price.
Turning to Sarah Okafor, barrister for Barking and Dagenham Council, Mr Irvine said: “It seems to me that this is a horrifying case.
“It’s a case where state authorities knew that Mr Price was vulnerable. They knew that he had been the victim of vandalism and attacks upon his property that seem to have been focused based upon local rumour and conjecture about his history – and it seems to me that that could have created a duty to take reasonable steps to protect Mr Price.
“So for those reasons, I’m going to need to understand what reflective processes or reviews are being undertaken by the local authority to see whether or not lessons can be learned about what happened to Mr Price.
“I can’t tell the local authority what to do… but in cases in which local authorities don’t do those things and there are questions to be asked, coroners have to hold a far-reaching, Article Two-complying inquest, which can have a significant drain upon local authority resources and can impact upon their reputation.”
The coroner asked Mr Palmer to provide a written account of what he felt were all the missed opportunities to save his brother’s final years by intervening, before the fatal fire.
The council claimed it could not comment while the inquest was ongoing.
