Farmer 'struggled to afford food' before death

The sister of a Filipino farmer, who died after a fire he lit in his accommodation to keep warm got out of control, said he was struggling to buy food or pay for heating before his death.

Grace Castrudes told the BBC that while George Castrudes had heating in his flat he struggled to pay for it because of delays in his salary being paid.

A preliminary inquest heard Mr Castrudes died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

The BBC approached Mr Castrudes' employer but they declined to comment.

Ms Castrudes, who lives in the Philippines, said her brother came to Jersey to provide a better life for his three children and partner who remained in their home country.

He had worked nine-month contracts over the last four years, returning to the Philippines for three months between each contract.

However, she said her brother told her about his struggles over the phone and it soon became apparent he was struggling financially because his salary payments were delayed..

Ms Castrudes said: "There are times that my brother doesn't have enough money to buy his food... I was in pain at that time knowing that my brother is very far from us, but I can't help him.

"Every time he told [me] about that situation, I was shocked, disappointed, and I was in pain seeing my brother begging for his salary which is his money just to have food."

The BBC has seen text messages Mr Castrudes sent to his partner about his frustrations over delays to his pay.

In the messages he wrote: "So annoying - still no salary up to now… this is what I hate most here!"

In another message he wrote: "Damn it, still no salary, I have no rice to cook tomorrow."

Ms Castrudes said the delayed salary payments meant her brother also struggled to pay for the heating in his flat.

She said: "George didn't use the heating in his flat because he was worried about paying for the utilities alone. Since George's salary is delayed he really needs to save money for his family."

"So... the night before the incident happened, George told me he is lighting a fire because he can't bear the cold at that time."

Mr Castrudes was rescued from the portable home he was staying in the grounds of La Valette nursery in Grouville on 19 January 2025.

On 23 January, he died in hospital with a preliminary inquest the same month hearing that he died from hypoxic brain injury due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

The BBC approached Mr Castrudes' employer, Paul Blake for comment but his lawyer told us he would not make any comment while the inquest was ongoing.

Deputy Beatriz Porée, who leads the work permit holder review panel into the experiences of seasonal workers in Jersey, said delays to workers payments were something that needed to be addressed.

She said: "We need to make our work permit policy more robust so employers don't feel they can actually delay payments which are life saving for migrant workers."

She said the workers suffered a lot of stress when payments did not come as they had to pay for eating and living in the island and "also pay previous debts that they came to the island with that allowed them to travel here".

Ms Castrudes said Filipino workers in Jersey were scared to complain about delayed payments and unfair conditions because "they are afraid to lose their jobs, they are afraid to lose the opportunity to provide for their family, so they are afraid to talk about their rights in Jersey".

The inquest into Mr Castrudes' death will resume on 4 November.

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