In a country with a safety net that is supposed to catch the most vulnerable, Sophia Yuferev fell straight through it — and no one in power seems to want to talk about why.
Sophia [not pictured – the image is merely illustrative], a talented artist and a woman living with paranoid schizophrenia, died alone in her flat in Hornchurch, Essex, reports Disability News Service.
When her body was finally discovered in November 2021, she had been dead for weeks.
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The electricity had been cut off.
She had received a summons for unpaid council tax.
Her housing association had threatened her with eviction.
Her benefits had been stripped — again.
And still, there has been no safeguarding adult review.
No public reckoning.
No justice.
Just silence.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
The Care Act 2014 requires that when an adult with care and support needs dies due to possible abuse or neglect, and there is concern over how agencies worked together, a safeguarding adult review (SAR) must be considered.
In Sophia’s case, that threshold was clearly met.
But Havering Council — along with representatives from the NHS and the Metropolitan police — decided against it.
Worse still, they didn’t even bother to tell Sophia’s family that no investigation would take place.
Her mother, Maria Stockdale, who is herself disabled, has been left in the dark.
Get my free guide: “10 Political Lies You Were Sold This Decade” — just subscribe to our email list here:
👉 https://voxpoliticalonline.com
Sophia had been living, at times, on one sandwich a day.
The inquest cited ketoacidosis as the cause of death — a condition that can be triggered by starvation.
At the same time, her medical records showed that she was on antipsychotic medication associated with elevated diabetes risk, and yet she wasn’t being given the routine blood tests required.
Her family believe that the rapid shifts in blood sugar caused by malnutrition led to her death.
This wasn’t a tragic oversight. It was a sustained campaign of bureaucratic cruelty.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) removed Sophia’s benefits multiple times across several years — sometimes while she was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
She was told her PIP was being removed just ten days before one such admission.
After she died, the DWP sent her a letter saying her benefits were being reinstated.
Imagine the scale of detachment required to keep sending those letters.
And Sophia’s story is not unique. It is part of a broader pattern — a brutal, calculated erosion of the welfare state that leaves disabled people increasingly isolated and unsupported.
What makes her case so particularly devastating is how many public bodies failed her simultaneously, and how determined they’ve been to avoid accountability.
The DWP conducted one of its infamous internal process reviews (IPRs) — a secret, closed-door audit that is never shared with families.
Because no SAR is being conducted, that IPR will remain sealed and unexamined.
The question must be asked: how many more deaths are hidden behind these closed files?
With new cuts to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) now on the table, Sophia’s story is more urgent than ever.
We are heading into another wave of so-called “reforms” to the benefits system — and if this is how the system treats vulnerable people now, what happens next?
Help fund great articles! We’re aiming for £50 to cover research and reporting time this week.
Can you chip in £3 today?
👉 https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
There is no excusing the silence.
There is no justifying the inaction.
Sophia Yuferev was starved by policy, silenced by bureaucracy, and forgotten by the institutions that were supposed to protect her.
The very least we owe her now is to say her name — and to demand better for the next person who finds themselves alone, hungry, and unheard.
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Starved, silenced and forgotten: the systemic neglect that killed a disabled woman
In a country with a safety net that is supposed to catch the most vulnerable, Sophia Yuferev fell straight through it — and no one in power seems to want to talk about why.
Sophia [not pictured – the image is merely illustrative], a talented artist and a woman living with paranoid schizophrenia, died alone in her flat in Hornchurch, Essex, reports Disability News Service.
When her body was finally discovered in November 2021, she had been dead for weeks.
Help fund great articles! We’re aiming for £50 to cover research and reporting time this week.
Can you chip in £3 today?
👉 https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
The electricity had been cut off.
She had received a summons for unpaid council tax.
Her housing association had threatened her with eviction.
Her benefits had been stripped — again.
And still, there has been no safeguarding adult review.
No public reckoning.
No justice.
Just silence.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
The Care Act 2014 requires that when an adult with care and support needs dies due to possible abuse or neglect, and there is concern over how agencies worked together, a safeguarding adult review (SAR) must be considered.
In Sophia’s case, that threshold was clearly met.
But Havering Council — along with representatives from the NHS and the Metropolitan police — decided against it.
Worse still, they didn’t even bother to tell Sophia’s family that no investigation would take place.
Her mother, Maria Stockdale, who is herself disabled, has been left in the dark.
Get my free guide: “10 Political Lies You Were Sold This Decade” — just subscribe to our email list here:
👉 https://voxpoliticalonline.com
Sophia had been living, at times, on one sandwich a day.
The inquest cited ketoacidosis as the cause of death — a condition that can be triggered by starvation.
At the same time, her medical records showed that she was on antipsychotic medication associated with elevated diabetes risk, and yet she wasn’t being given the routine blood tests required.
Her family believe that the rapid shifts in blood sugar caused by malnutrition led to her death.
This wasn’t a tragic oversight. It was a sustained campaign of bureaucratic cruelty.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) removed Sophia’s benefits multiple times across several years — sometimes while she was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
She was told her PIP was being removed just ten days before one such admission.
After she died, the DWP sent her a letter saying her benefits were being reinstated.
Imagine the scale of detachment required to keep sending those letters.
And Sophia’s story is not unique. It is part of a broader pattern — a brutal, calculated erosion of the welfare state that leaves disabled people increasingly isolated and unsupported.
What makes her case so particularly devastating is how many public bodies failed her simultaneously, and how determined they’ve been to avoid accountability.
The DWP conducted one of its infamous internal process reviews (IPRs) — a secret, closed-door audit that is never shared with families.
Because no SAR is being conducted, that IPR will remain sealed and unexamined.
The question must be asked: how many more deaths are hidden behind these closed files?
With new cuts to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) now on the table, Sophia’s story is more urgent than ever.
We are heading into another wave of so-called “reforms” to the benefits system — and if this is how the system treats vulnerable people now, what happens next?
Help fund great articles! We’re aiming for £50 to cover research and reporting time this week.
Can you chip in £3 today?
👉 https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
There is no excusing the silence.
There is no justifying the inaction.
Sophia Yuferev was starved by policy, silenced by bureaucracy, and forgotten by the institutions that were supposed to protect her.
The very least we owe her now is to say her name — and to demand better for the next person who finds themselves alone, hungry, and unheard.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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