A disabled former soldier has been found dead in his Council flat just days after it was wrecked when a suspected stolen car smashed into it.
Wheelchair-bound Colin McLeod, 64, pictured, had been battling to be moved from the boarded-up ground floor flat, where the ceiling was propped up by scaffolding poles, since it was severely damaged on December 28.
Tragically, the former Black Watch private, who was severely deaf and suffered from asthma, was found dead there by police at 10.10am yesterday - only hours before he was due to be moved to a new flat.
Mr McLeod, of Church Green, Manningham, Bradford, who served in Kenya during the Mau Mau rising of the 1950s, had contacted the Telegraph & Argus about his plight.
Mr McLeod said that his flat had been inspected by a Council surveyor immediately after the crash when he was told he would be moved out but then nothing had happened .
"I was told I'd be moved to alternative accommodation, but I heard nothing more about it," he said.
"What am I supposed to do? It's a small room and I can hardly walk, so I need to hold on to things when I get out of my chair. I just want to move house, to somewhere I can feel safe."
Mr McLeod was visited again by Council officers last Friday - when he was informed a new flat was ready.
Bradford Council's housing director, Geraldine Howley said efforts to re-house Mr McLeod were hampered by repeated, unsuccessful attempts, to get in touch with him.
"We sent a surveyor to the flat on the same day the accident happened. Although there was some damage to the brickwork, the property was deemed structurally safe and temporary repairs were carried out."
When informed of Mr McLeod's death, a Council spokesman added: "He was being moved to a nearby property yesterday so this is very unfortunate, but it is not directly related.
"We had tried several times to contact him earlier to arrange new accommodation, and couldn't get through - we had people going round there and knocking on the door several times, but there was no response."
But Mr McLeod's neighbours Julie and Diane were critical of why he was allowed to live for so long in such poor conditions.
Julie, who helped him with shopping, cooking and cleaning, said: "They had a mobile phone number for us, which we gave them because his deafness stops him using his phone, but no-one got in contact."
Diane added: "We are disgusted with how he was treated because he could only walk with a frame, and if he had slipped and grabbed on to one of those poles what would have happened?
"There are other flats here empty and he should have been moved to one of them straight away - not more than two weeks later."
Peter Clarke, Bradford manager of the Disability Information and Advice Line, said specialist support workers were needed to deal urgently with cases like Mr McLeod.
"Even after anti-discriminatory laws have been passed it's still the case that disabled people seem to be a forgotten sector of society, and issues like this need to be addressed," he said.
"Anybody can become disabled at any time of their lives, and they wouldn't want to end up stuck with two metal props holding up their living room ceiling and somebody saying 'sorry, we tried to get in contact.'"
The Bradford Coroner has been informed of Mr McLeod's death and a post-mortem examination was being carried out today.
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