Families who lost loved ones to Covid have said it is a ‘slap in the face’ that a firm linked to Michelle Mone’s husband purchased a luxury £10million pad in Florida
When the firm linked to Michelle Mone was told to repay £122million over dodgy PPE this month, it offered a crumb of comfort to angry relatives of Covid victims.
But their fury was reignited after it emerged a company connected to her husband Douglas Barrowman bought a £10million luxury Florida home.
An arm of Barrowman Group splashed out on the four-bedroom property on Fisher Island – known as “Billionaire Island” – in July.
That was three months before the High Court ordered PPE Medpro, which is owned by a consortium led by disgraced peer Mone’s husband, to hand back the cash given by the government for surgical gowns that turned out to be faulty.
It went into administration on the same day as the ruling then missed the October 15 deadline to cough up.
Deborah Doyle, who lost her mum Sylvia Griffiths, 76, in a care home in April 2020, said news of the flat purchase was adding “insult to injury”.
The 58-year-old, of Sunderland, added: “What a slap in the face for the care staff and the bereaved that [PPE Medpro] will not pay back the millions that could now potentially help our struggling NHS.
“Michelle Mone must have a very short memory of how poor PPE affected the pandemic.”
The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group said buying the plush home “while the public is still owed £122million is a slap in the face to everyone bereaved by the virus”. A spokesman demanded Mone be stripped of her peerage and OBE and added: “Frontline staff went without PPE while PPE Medpro made millions from unusable, unsafe gowns.
“Our loved ones died because staff lacked protection. It is unforgivable.
“Baroness Mone has no place in the House of Lords, and the government should have stripped her of her OBE months ago.”
Amos Waldman lost his gran Sheila Lamb in April 2020, aged 94. He said: “People died because of an insufficient supply of PPE, both patients and health and social care staff.
“Mone profited from the situation. She should be ashamed of herself.
“She is continuing to live a life of luxury and extravagance.
“She, and any others in a similar position, should be stripped of any titles she holds. She is not fit to hold them.”
Secluded Fisher Island can only be accessed by boat or helicopter.
Julia Roberts, Mel Brooks and Oprah Winfrey have all lived there.
Mark Williams-Thomas, who is representing Mone, said her husband’s firm bought the property which was being was renovated.
He added: “Mr Barrowman is a professional investor who for the past 35 years has bought and sold all manner of assets. The property arm of his group recently bought a property on Fisher Island, Miami, with a view to refurbishment followed by resale.”
The Department for Health and Social Care sued PPE Medpro after it provided 25 million faulty gowns during the pandemic. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has vowed to go after the company “with everything we’ve got to get these funds back where they belong … in our NHS”.
He said: “At a time of national crisis, PPE Medpro sold the previous government substandard kit and pocketed taxpayers’ cash.
“PPE Medpro failed to meet the deadline to pay. They still owe us over £145m, with interest accruing daily.”
Mone is said to have recommended the firm to the government’s Covid contracts VIP lane on the day Medpro was created in May 2020.
The peer, who founded lingerie firm Ultimo in 1996, claims she and Barrowman were made “scapegoats” after being singled out over the PPE.
She told the BBC in 2023: “I don’t honestly see there’s a case to answer. I can’t see what we’ve done wrong.”
A spokesman for the consortium has said it would “enter into a dialogue” with the government to reach a settlement.
He added: “This was made public, and the government was made aware of it. Yet, disappointingly, the government has made no effort to respond or seek to enter into discussions.”