Coroner concerned about culture of large landlord after girl drowns in canal with unsafe barriers

CCTV captured the moment Malika, who had managed to get out of her house, slipped through the gaps in the barrier and fell into the City Road Basin on Regent’s Canal just before 4pm. 

Her mother reported her missing around 15 minutes later and a neighbour found her facedown in the water within another 10 minutes.

The inquest heard evidence that Peabody had received complaints from residents at least four years earlier in 2019, and a toddler had already fallen into the same area of the canal in 2018. 

The coroner heard there was confusion over who owned the land adjacent to the canal, with Peabody, Islington Council and the Canal & River Trust all denying responsibility.

Giving evidence, Tracey Parker, managing director at Peabody, admitted it “did seem” that the housing association was responsible for the barriers.

It came after the Canal & River Trust provided paperwork showing it had transferred ownership of the land to Peabody in 2015, the same year building work at the site was completed.

Giving evidence, Ros Daniels, director of London and the South East at the Canal & River Trust, said: “The information I have from the property lawyers and estate team is that the trust doesn’t own anything up to the water’s edge.”

She also said while the trust owns the freehold for the canal itself, the waterway was under a 40-year lease held by Islington Council.

Ms Parker said planning consent for the development had been approved with an emphasis on the public’s ability to enjoy the canal, which also meant there had to be a public right of way through a courtyard in the development.

However, she admitted the safety of the barriers should have been assessed when planning permission was sought. 

Asked whether Peabody was responsible for Malika’s death, Ms Parker said: “Obviously we are really saddened by what’s happened; we can’t change that and we really wish we could. We’ve tried to do what we can do now and how we plan to take things forward but it doesn’t really change anything.”

She said she did not accept “in its entirety” that the housing association was responsible for Malika’s death.

In a statement, resident Sarah Thompson told the inquest that she spoke to a housing officer in 2019 about the railings.

In response, the housing officer said in a statement that she did not recall the conversation, but admitted there were “a couple” of residents who had asked for a better barrier or signs to be put up.

She said: “I passed this on to the new homes team. [They] confirmed there was nothing we could do as this was not owned by Peabody. They said this belonged to the Canal [& River] Trust.”

Ian Swift, director of housing operations at Islington Council, told the coroner that he received an email in October 2023 from a Peabody employee about the barrier near the Crest Buildings.

In the email, the housing officer wrote: “I was on a walk about there late last week and was taken aback by just how little fencing there is around that site of the basin, which is literally on the doorstep of family homes especially on the ground floor. We believe some form of low fencing is required to safeguard children in these homes.”

Mr Swift said he forwarded the message to the director of public realm, who did not respond to the email, or to a chaser email on 9 February. 

The February email was due to be responded to by 16 February – the day before the incident – but was not responded to due to “unforeseen circumstances”.

Asked what those circumstances were, Mr Swift said: “I’m afraid I don’t have that information today. I thought he could be on holiday during that period of time. I sent an email on another issue and the email I got in response was that he was off until 31 January, so he was back in the office.”

Ms Hassell said: “So actually there wasn’t any reason.” 

“I can’t identify any reason for the non-response,” Mr Swift replied.

He told the coroner that if he was dealing with the matter, he would have confirmed the council did not have responsibility for the fencing and told Peabody to apply for planning permission for a new barrier.

The detective investigating Malika’s death told the inquest that the gaps in the barriers were big enough for her, an adult, to fit through.

Detective sergeant Lisa Jordan said: “From my point of view, having worked 16 years as a police officer in safeguarding and risk assessment, it’s very apparent that that was an unsafe area for children to be playing.”

She said she was “surprised” the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) declined to investigate the death.

Ms Jordan said the HSE told her it had no powers to investigate as there are “no processes governing what fences should and shouldn’t be erected around canal towpaths”.

Giving a narrative conclusion on Malika’s death, Ms Hassell said: “I appreciate that there is now temporary fencing in front of Crest Buildings and there are plans to make a safer permanent structure. 

“However, Peabody is responsible for many such buildings and I remain extremely concerned that they didn’t know for sure what they owned and what they didn’t own. They didn’t risk assess a very obviously potentially dangerous situation. 

“They didn’t act on complaints that were made, they didn’t try to make the barrier any safer and even when they noticed the potential danger, after sending one email they didn’t take any other steps until the week before Malika’s death by which time it was too late.”

She added that Peabody had put to her that there was a “conflict” between the “desire to have a nice space open to everyone’s enjoyment” and creating a safe barrier.

She concluded: “I see no such conflict. It seems to me entirely possible to create a safer environment. It will not always be completely safe of course, but safer than it was and yet still allow everyone to enjoy the open space and the canal.”

Ms Hassell also issued a prevention of future death report in respect of planning laws.

She said: “It seems to me that when the planning application was made in 2014 or 2015, there needed to be consideration of the barrier as part of the development. I have no evidence that there was a consideration of the barrier as part of the development, no matter who was maintaining it.

“If that is happening in Islington it could be happening in other London boroughs and in other councils in the country.”

Speaking after the inquest, a Peabody spokesperson said: “This was a heart-breaking and tragic accident, and our thoughts remain with Malika’s family and friends as they grieve their terrible loss. We’ll continue to support local residents and will consider all the points raised in the coroner’s report.”

Kaya Comer-Schwartz, leader of Islington Council, said: “Malika’s death was a terrible tragedy, and our thoughts and prayers continue to be with her family and loved ones.

“We will carefully consider everything that has been said today, and throughout the inquest.”