'Compulsive shopper' died in Great Yarmouth flat fire

Yasmin Siddiqi died in blaze at her home in October 2018

A compulsive shopper who hoarded her purchases died in a fire at her cluttered flat weeks after it was deemed high risk, an inquest heard.

Yasmin Siddiqi, 41, died in the blaze at her Norfolk home on 26 October 2018.

She had suffered mental health problems for more than 20 years and had been under the care of adult social services and a mental health trust.

It was unclear if recommendations made in a fire inspection in September had been carried out, the inquest was told.

It heard Miss Siddiqi had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act, both voluntarily and involuntarily.

She had been admitted to Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust's Northgate Hospital in Great Yarmouth three times in 2018 and at one point spent six months there.

After she was discharged a plan had been created for her to visit a care home for washing and meals, with staff tasked with helping her to de-clutter her home.

On 3 September, a fire officer rated her flat as "high risk" and made recommendations including new smoke alarms and a 50% reduction in hoarding.

'Spent £1,000 in Debenhams'

In a statement, Miss Siddiqi's mother, Dorothy Creevy, said "mental health services didn't tell me how bad her hoarding had become".

"One time she went shopping with a carer and she spent £1,000 in Debenhams," she said, adding the carer had been powerless to stop her.

Miss Siddiqi's brother Zahid Verrier said the family had trouble accessing information from Norfolk County Council adult services and he had complained to bosses, but had no response until he sent a third email, which was when he was told his sister had died.

He said the day after her death he visited her basement flat in Rodney Road, Great Yarmouth, and found things "never opened, never used" stacked from floor to ceiling in her bedroom, and just a small walkway in her lounge.

"It was incredible - there were five coffee machines in the kitchen," he said.

The inquest heard Miss Siddiqi - a heavy smoker - died as a direct result of inhaling "fire fumes".

Mr Verrier said she had been "fun-loving, outgoing" with a "huge heart", but had been "plagued with bad luck her whole life" and badly affected by a sex assault in her teens.

The inquest continues.