A woman has criticised a government body’s “failure” to help her remove her ‘abusive’ brother as their mother’s carer.

Speaking at an inquest into the death of her brother, Adrian Sharpe, Honor Dubois said that she was “very disappointed in the Office of the Public Guardian [OPG]” after her brother, who she claimed assaulted their mother while acting as her full-time carer, was left with power of attorney following ‘delays’ at the OPG.

“I asked the OPG for help on multiple occasions and they failed,” she said. “They had the reports to get him removed, which they said would take three months, but then they said because of Covid it would be delayed by half a year. I felt it was an excuse as the report is sitting there for them and I’m disappointed they dragged their feet for such a long time.”

The OPG said it had "immediately" taken steps following the report.

Honor was speaking at an inquest into the death of her brother held at Winchester Coroners’ Court on June 8. She told the court that her brother had become an alcoholic in his 30s, and was “unrecognisable” following the change.

“He was living at home and was a functioning alcoholic until he wasn’t,” she said. “He assaulted mum after making himself her full-time carer, and I suspect he was pushing her around.”

“I rang the OPG as I knew he was getting worse and was worried about my mum, so I spoke to them about him getting struck off as power of attorney.”

She told the court that following the alleged assault, he had been arrested by police, and was forbidden from visiting his mother’s house under the terms of his bail. Using money inherited from an aunt, he moved into Andover’s Best Western, located on Micheldever Road, as a long-term resident.

Staff at the hotel said Mr Sharpe had been living there since the first national lockdown, and had negotiated to move into a staff flat following the hotel closing to guests during the pandemic.

On August 17, 2020, a meeting discussed moving him back into the hotel as it prepared to reopen. A manager went to speak to him, and saw him apparently asleep on his bed.

When he did not respond to knocks on the door, Julian Pablo, the Group Operations Director, looked more closely through the window and said he was “unhappy with the appearance of Mr Sharpe through the window.”

He then tried the door, which was unlocked, and found Mr Sharpe on the bed, with two empty litre bottles of vodka lying next to him. He called an ambulance after becoming concerned he may have passed away, and a paramedic later pronounced Mr Sharpe dead at the scene.

A post-mortem found that he was several times the drink drive limit at the time of his death, and was suffering from mild kidney damage and established liver cirrhosis. The cause of death was given as acute alcohol intake, with fatty liver disease, which can be brought on by constant alcoholic intake, given as a contributing factor.

The coroner, Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp, noted that Mr Sharpe had previously had tests which showed “abnormal blood results” for his liver “that weren’t followed up” by his GP surgery. Following inquiries, she was told by Charlton Hill that he had not arranged further check-ups and tests to confirm this result.

“It doesn’t seem to me that the patient was told to come back,” she said, adding that there was “no indication” if he had been advised to reduce his alcohol intake following the tests.

Following the conclusion of the inquest, a verdict of alcohol-related death was given.

An Office of the Public Guardian spokesperson told the Advertiser: “We immediately referred this case to the local authority to put in place safeguarding arrangements, and applied to have this attorney removed.”