City exec plumbers over £1m home ‘that made her family seriously ill’

A former high-flying City executive has launched a legal claim against the plumbers who fitted out her new home and the developers who sold it to her, claiming the £1 million house made her and her family seriously ill.

Danielle Mensah, 45, spent two decades in finance as an international senior trader, and was named as one of the top 100 women in the City.

But after moving into a luxury detached five-bedroom, four-bathroom home in Beckenham, Kent, she and her family say they became ill with a cocktail of mental and physical symptoms.

According to their case, they have been diagnosed with chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS) as a result of exposure to toxins in their home.

While CIRS is not a formal diagnosis in mainstream medicine, the symptoms and underlying issues it causes are recognized.

The couple claim their symptoms were caused by a badly-fitted soil pipe from the bathroom toilet which blocked with human waste and then leaked – but was hidden from view by box work and the wall itself. A waste pipe from a sink also leaked.

Now mother-of-two Mrs Mensah, formerly Ballardie, and her husband Daniel are suing plumbers RG Evans and Linden Home for damages, valuing their claim at more than £200,000.

They say they had to sell their home and move away because of their illness, and Mrs Mensah says she struggled to work because of her condition, and in 2020 was forced to take time off work.

She still needs treatment, and suffers from tiredness, weakness, insomnia, headaches, digestive issues, and her working memory is sub-optimal.

The couple, who are parents to Maverick, eight, and two-year-old Zara, moved into the property in May 2015, an imposing home spread over three floors, part of a development of 48 detached houses, but say their home was defective.

Both developed a variety of symptoms, with Mrs Mensah suffering fatigue, then exhaustion, frequent urination and needing to get up about 15 times each night to go to the loo, headaches, cramping, pains, blurred vision, diarrhoea, vertigo, and cognitive problems.

She now works as a leadership coach and speaker after a twenty-year career in finance.

Mr Mensah, 40, suffered from fatigue and mood swings, insomnia, frequent urination, and sweating, and his symptoms increased when he spent more time at home during lockdown, according to their High Court claim.

Their child Maverick also suffered similar symptoms and is likely to sue Linden and the plumbers separately, the court will hear.

Mrs Mensah noticed water staining in an ensuite bedroom in 2020, and was told it was water leaking from the soil pipe from the toilet and basin.

A tradesman discovered that the soil pipe came apart in his hands at a joint which hadn’t been solvent-welded and was completely bunged up with human waste.

The pipe had been propped up with plasterboard packing rather than being fixed with a bracket, the claim says.

A company called Building Forensics Report said the soil pipe had leaked black water with human bacteroids, high particle counts indicating a possible spread of contamination, and there were potentially toxic moulds on the upper floors where there was also high specific humidity.

Levels of potentially toxic bacteria were between 10 and 100 times usual readings, according to the report.

A survey using a ‘Mouldscope’ showed high mould concentrations in rooms rated red in every room except one, which was yellow – with none showing green, the normal level to be expected in a residential property.

On the advice of experts, the Mensah family moved out of the house on November 10, 2020, and into temporary accommodation and blame the housebuilders and plumbers for their injuries.

They accuse both of negligence and breach of contract or duty, claiming the soil pipe and basin waste were not installed in a workmanlike and professional manner, and failed to ensure the property was fit for human habitation.

Mrs Mensah says her condition, chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS), affects the immune system and leads to overproduction of cytokines. 

She has also suffered a psychological reaction, with anxiety about being reinfected with toxic mould.

Her husband’s condition has significantly improved as he underwent treatment including cognitive behavioural therapy, but his verbal memory is significantly below his expected optimal level, the court will hear. He also suffers from skin issues, aching, constipation, fatigue, and insomnia.

Both are seeking damages for their injuries as well as damages for the distress and inconvenience of having to leave their home in November 2020, and for the inconvenience of having to occupy a series of temporary homes.

RG Evans declined to comment but are expected to defend the claim.

A spokesperson for Linden Homes’ parent company Vistry Group told MailOnline: ‘This matter is the subject of active court proceedings and, on that basis, we decline to comment.’