Cause of council worker’s ‘untimely’ death still unclear after inquest

Dannie Rhoden (left) with his father (centre) and brother, Paul (right). Photograph: Paul Rhoden

A coroner has ruled it is impossible to know if a Hackney Council worker’s untimely death from lung disease was from treating damp and mould in social housing.

Daniel ‘Dannie’ Rhoden died in hospital on June 21, 2025 aged 57 as he awaited a lung transplant, having been diagnosed with fibrotic lung disease three years prior.

A painter and decorator for Hackney Council for almost four decades, shortly before he died Dannie raised suspicions his illness came from prolonged exposure to severe damp and mould across the borough’s housing stock. A formal investigation into the cause of his death was launched last July.

On Tuesday, January 27, an inquest at St Pancras Coroner’s Court heard his doctors were puzzled by what could have caused the disease. Since there was no known genetic factor they raised the possibility of “occupational exposure” to Dannie after his diagnosis.

Coroner Edwin Buckett made clear the inquest was to find out the cause of death and not a clinical or workplace negligence case. Amid the three expert clinicians’ “mildly conflicting” views on the extent that Dannie’s exposure to damp and mould – and the chemicals used to treat it – could have contributed to his death, the coroner ruled that it was impossible to know.

In a statement written before he died, Dannie claimed he and others were under pressure from council management to tackle widespread “disgusting” damp and mould with tight turnarounds “because everything was about money”.

The court heard the council demanded “quick completion” and that a bonus scheme incentivised employees to do two days’ worth of work in one shift, and this often meant “cutting corners”. Dannie said he would often do more than was expected to properly treat fungal spores.

When he raised his concerns about the health risks of treating damp and mould, Dannie said his manager told him to carry on because he “would be alright”.

At the inquest, Dannie’s brother Paul said he was “in great shape” but had grown concerned about the potential risks to his health at work as he was required to treat more and more damp and mould in recent years. Paul said Dannie asked to move to another job within the council, but this was denied, and “he continued to be exposed after diagnosis”.

Paul added that Dannie, first employed by the council aged 17, particularly loved working with elderly people, and “felt a duty to do the best he could” when he “put on the Hackney uniform”.

Dannie’s colleague Keith Charles praised his late colleague’s work ethic and said his death caused “a lot of shock” among Hackney’s painters and decorators.

Dannie Rhoden (Right) with his dad and niece. Photograph: Paul Rhoden

In a witness statement read at the hearing, Mr Charles said workers were “put at risk” in dealing damp and mould that sometimes covered 30 metres of wall. He added that ventilation was poor, equipment often old, and criticised a lack of risk assessments on properties due for repairs. Mr Charles said that since the health hazards were due to structural problems, their job was to “paint over and not cure” the problem.

A senior Hackney Council officer at the hearing said workers were encouraged to use PPE to treat damp and mould but it was “up to to the operator” to use this. Assistant Director for Repairs and Maintenance, Lindsey Matthews, disputed that workers were expected to carry out “quick fixes”.

She confirmed that Dannie’s work was “predominately” tackling damp and mould since Awaab’s Law came into effect – requiring hazardous issues like damp and mould to be fixed quickly – but also claimed he had “declined redeployment”. Ms Matthews highlighted that employees had to do continuous mandatory health and safety training around the issue and that this was monitored.

The coroner noted that Mr Rhoden’s breathlessness emerged for “no apparent reason” but said it was “not possible to say” if there was a link between Dannie’s occupation and his condition – caveating that this did not mean none existed.

In a statement given after the verdict, his brother Paul said: “While nothing can undo what happened to Dannie, we’re grateful to the coroner for hearing the evidence, especially in regards to the issue of mould in properties owned and managed by Hackney.

“Dannie was one of the good guys. He was always so positive and always happy to help others. However, that all started to change once we knew how poorly he was.

“The impact Dannie’s death has had on our family is indescribable. One of the hardest things to try and accept was how our elderly dad had to watch his son being buried. We take some small comfort from at least now having some answers”.