There are so many people who have taken inspiration from Jodey's story ...we need to keep fighting for them

JOY Dove's long battle to prove daughter Jodey Whiting died as a result of benefits cuts is over but she has vowed to carry on fighting to avoid more needless tragedies.

- BY ROS WYNNE-JONES

And the grieving mum has warned Keir Starmer that if he ploughs on with plans to slash welfare for the most vulnerable by £5billion a year, more families will lose loved ones.

The benefits system had already suffered brutal cuts under cruel Tory austerity when mum-of-nine Jodey, 42, took her own life in February 2017.

Vital payments that helped her cope with disabilities had been axed.

A coroner ruled on Monday the Department of Work and Pensions was responsible for her death, in a victory for Joy's eight-year campaign to prove what she already knew.

And the 71-year-old last night had a message for the PM as he vows to plug a £22bn black hole the Tories left.

MORPHINE

She said: "If Labour carry on with their disability cuts there will be more Jodeys. What happened to Jodey is what happens when benefits are taken away.

"They are saying they need to fill this black hole. But they can't fill it with vulnerable people.

"It's the same with the winter fuel allowance and the benefits cap. People need protecting. There are so many people who have taken inspiration from Jodey's story. We need to keep fighting for them."

Jodey died by suicide two weeks after her Employment and Support Allowance was wrongly stopped because the DWP claimed she had failed to attend a medical assessment.

She had been flagged as a vulnerable claimant with mental health problems. The former shop assistant from Stockton-on-Tees, Co Durham, had chronic pain relating to a curved spine, which left her barely able to even crawl from her home. She was later diagnosed with a brain cyst.

Jodey took 23 tablets a day, including morphine, and also had a type of personality disorder.

But Joy's grief was compounded when the first inquest into her death lasted 37 minutes and heard no evidence on the DWP decision.