Inquest continues into the death of two young men who died at Dannsa House care home in East Markham

An ongoing inquest into the unexplained death of two young men heard evidence from workers at the care home where they died.

Stuart James Hill, known as Stuie, aged 23, and David Dickson, 24, died within 24 hours of each other at Dannsa House care home in East Markham in August last year.

Today (November 21), the second day of the three-day inquest hearing at Nottingham City Council, heard evidence from members of staff at Danna House, operated by Kisimul Group, which provides care for young adults with autism, learning disabilities and complex needs.

Yesterday (Wednesday), following evidence given by forensic pathologist Dr Frances Hollingbury, toxicologist Paul Smith and two members of Nottinghamshire Police responsible for the investigation, all parties said that they couldn’t find a cause of death for either man.

David Dickson was a senior support worker at Dannsa House, who was staying at the care home on a sleeping shift after completing a day shift, as he had a meeting scheduled for the next day, August 25, 2023.

When he did not come out of his room for the meeting the next morning, a staff member went to check on him and upon finding the door locked, used a master key to enter the room, where Mr Dickson was found collapsed on the floor.

On the morning following Mr Dickson’s death, Stuie, a resident at the care home since August 2019, was also found dead in his bed.

Today’s hearing heard from witnesses who saw and spoke to both Stuie and Mr Dickson hours before their deaths.

The first witness of the day was Mourine Yeboah, who was the last person to see Mr Dickson alive.

Mrs Yeboah described Mr Dickson as being his normal self during the day. He later complained of being cold at about 1am on August 25, and was looking for the remote to turn the central heater on in the home.

Early in the morning, Mrs Yeboah said she heard steps in the room Mr Dickson was sleeping in as it was directly above the lounge where she was staying.

At 6.23am on August 25, there is evidence that Mr Dickson messaged his wife, Blessing Taiwo, and nothing raised suspicion of him being unwell.

Mr Yeboah finished her shift at 8am. She raised no concerns about not seeing Mr Dickson as she said that sometimes he would come down for the handover to the day staff but sometimes he wouldn’t.

Blessing Taiwo, who also worked at the care home, said that Mr Dickson would always call her to say that he was going to do the handover as he always liked to be present.

The inquest also heard from Ashley Hunt, the registered manager at the home, who described Mr Dickson as being a “highly valuable member of the team”.

On the last two days before Mr Dickson’s death their shifts overlapped and he was said to be “in really good spirits” on August 23 as members of staff and residents went on trip walk to Walesby.

Stuie was also said to be his usual self.

On August 24, David told Mrs Hunt that he was tired and even asked to have a shorter shift on Friday (August 25) from 8am to 4pm rather than 8am to 8.30pm. He was also said to make a joke that he would sleep in that day.

The meeting at 10am on August 25 was due to be attended by David and another member of staff, having recently been appointed senior staff members.

Mrs Hunt said: “I would expect him to be up and ready to start his shift at 8am.

“As far as I am aware, I have no record of him being late.”

At about 9.35am on the morning of August 25, she asked her colleague where David was as he was sleeping in the home and it was unusual for him to not be up at the time.

She went upstairs and said that the sleeping room door was unlocked and that she found Mr Dickson collapsed on the floor.

Mrs Hunt added: “After I found David, I was in absolute shock.

“I believe we did everything to keep things as calm as possible.”

The inquest heard from other witnesses who gave their statements of the last hours of both individuals’ lives.