Mother launches bid for new inquest into daughter’s death
THE MOTHER of a nine-year-old girl whose death was linked to unlawful levels of air pollution has applied to the High Court to quash her daughter’s inquest and grant a new hearing.
Lawyers acting on behalf of Rosamund Kissi-Debrah said the application for a new inquest into the death of her daughter Ella had been lodged at the Royal Courts of Justice in London yesterday morning.
The application has been submitted on the sixth anniversary of the youngster’s death in February 2013 following three years of seizures and 27 visits to hospital for asthma attacks.
Ella lived 25 metres from the South Circular Road in Lewisham in south-east London – one of the capital’s busiest roads.
Lawyers say her original inquest in 2014 did not investigate the potential impact of air pollution, concluding that Ella’s cause of death was acute respiratory Expert suggested air pollution contributed to fatal asthma attack.
failure caused by a severe asthma attack.
But an expert report by Professor Stephen Holgate, quoted in a submission to the Attorney General, concluded that it was likely that unlawful levels of air pollution contributed to Ella’s fatal asthma attack.
The Attorney General Geoffrey Cox QC last month granted the family permission to apply for a fresh inquest after concluding there was “new evidence which may alter the substantial truth of Ella’s death”.
If the family’s request is granted, Ella may become the first person in the UK for whom air pollution is listed as the cause of death.
Ms Kissi-Debrah said it was “simply unacceptable in this day and age” that children were dying because of the air they breathe.
She added: “This is the latest step in finding out if it was air pollution that snatched my beautiful and bubbly daughter away from me.
“While nothing will bring her back, I hope a new inquest will give me the answers I need and help hold those in power, who allow our cities to have dangerous and illegal levels of pollution, to account.
“I hope that Ella’s case will make the Government take the issue of air pollution seriously.”