Margaret St George

SURELY, the most moving moment of the week came on Tuesday afternoon when Margaret St George placed a rose over her brother’s coffin and picked up his hat which was resting on top.

She gave it a kiss and returned it, before whispering a final goodbye.

Our friend, the legendary Old Bailey correspondent David St George, who died last month, could not have wished for a better older sister and I have written before about how this woman is one of the true unsung heroes of Camden.

After the scandal of her nephew’s fall from a prison bunk and the lack of emergency care that left Ryan St George with brain damage so bad that he could no longer look after himself, Aunty Margaret stepped in.

You used to see her still pushing Ryan in a heavy wheelchair down Kentish Town Road into her 80s.

She devoted her life to caring for him as David St George tirelessly fought for justice for his son through the courts.

It was good to see her again this week, even if the occasion was so sad.

She told me she was never given a proper carer allowance through all those years of selfless and unseen work.

This was the case, even though the High Court noted how much she had done while deciding that the Prison Service must pay compensation. When Ryan moved to a specialist flat in Holmes Road, Margaret gave up her council home to support him.

Margaret St George with her late nephew Ryan

Sadly, Ryan died aged 53 last year but she has no council housing to go back to and is now, at 91, left trying to pay for sheltered housing.

It seems unfair given she is somebody who worked all her life – she told me from the age of 14 – and was helping Ryan long after most people have retired because, put simply, the state had failed him.

“Dave was a lovely little brother,” she told me – which always sounds strange given he was like a wise but cheeky uncle to many of us.

The funeral service at Islington Crematorium heard that with a 10-year age gap, Margaret had spent some of her first pay packets on buying toys for David. I have met few more caring people in this job than her and it was heartbreaking to see her say goodbye to her brother so soon after losing her nephew.

People get OBEs, MBEs and whatnot often for doing very little.

If I was handing them out, she’d be the first one I’d call.