A woman dies and her body is forgotten for nearly three years in a London apartment | Globalism

And reports from the British newspaper “The Guardian” published more details about the episode in recent weeks. Sliwan had no close friends or family, and she wasn’t even sought after when she stopped paying rent in 2019.

The body was discovered after local police warned of damage to the balcony door of their apartment in Peckham, south London, due to storms. Without a response from the resident, the authorities were forced to enter.

Coroner Julian Morris gave an interview to the newspaper this week and said it was “obvious that something went wrong” after several unusual events that did not generate suspicions about the presence of a lifeless person inside the property.

According to the Guardian’s investigation, neighbors repeatedly complained about the smell from the apartment, but the problem was ignored by the Peabody Trust, the housing association that acts as the property’s manager.

Neighbors brought in by the newspaper reported larvae and flies coming from the apartment weeks after the rent payment had stopped, in August 2019. In October 2020, a neighbor stated that the smell was “like a corpse”.

The final status report found at least 89 attempts to contact Siliwan between August 2019 and February 2022, which went unanswered or followed up.

Peabody officials told the report that they sought to ensure “no contact” with Silwan, but preferred to send emails, text messages, messages or a phone call and send records as proof that the work was done.

The case sparked a discussion about what should be considered dignified treatment given not only to Peabody’s customers, but to the service as a whole.

A statement signed by Ian McDermott, CEO of Peabody and published by the Guardian, said the company was “shattered” by what happened. “We’re sorry for our part in this and we apologize to Sheila, her family, and everyone else who lives in Lords Court. In our action on this issue, we haven’t asked the basic question: Is Sheila okay?”

But there are failures even by the authorities. The investigation shows that the manager of Peabody asked the police to conduct a welfare check in October 2020. Due to a procedural error, the police informed the director of the association that agents spoke to the resident, who was “in good health”.

However, it wasn’t until over a year later that an estimate of Sheila Silwan’s death was estimated. The last food vouchers found in the apartment with her body are from August 2019.