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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Anna Tims

Brighton council threw man’s belongings in skip after he died, says brother

Chris and Simon Byrne: they are two young men with reddish-brown hair, smiling at the camera; they appear to be photographed in front of shops in Brighton's North Laines
Most of the possessions of Chris Byrne, left, were thrown into a skip, said his brother Simon, right. Photograph: Supplied

The brother of a 29-year-old man found dead in temporary council accommodation says he has been left bereft after his sibling’s belongings were disposed of by council contractors.

Simon Byrne had made an appointment with Brighton and Hove officials to collect the possessions of his brother Chris, who had died from a drug overdose. However, when he arrived, he discovered Chris’s lodgings had already been cleared. “I was pointed to a small suitcase in the caretaker’s [building],” he said. “The rest of his things, including his bracelets and other tangible memories, had been thrown into a skip with no opportunity for me as his only surviving family member to go through them.”

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