A woman lay dead in her flat for two-and-a-half years before she was discovered by police, an inquest heard.
The skeletal remains of Sheila Celeone were found at her south-east London home in February.
The 61-year-old is believed to have died at the flat in Peckham in August 2019, a hearing at Southwark Crown Court was told.
Officers broke through the door earlier this year after receiving reports from neighbors concerned about her welfare.
Residents had made several reports to Peabody’s housing association, expressing concerns about a foul smell, mail piled up in her mailbox, and they hadn’t seen her in a while.
Police visited twice in October 2020 after receiving similar reports, but said they did not notice a foul odor and officers did not believe there was enough evidence at the time to warrant forced entry.
But officers forced their way inside after returning to the flat on St Mary’s Road in Peckham on February 18 this year.
“Concern was raised for the welfare of a woman who lived at the address,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement afterwards.
Detective Sergeant Scott Fisher spoke to investigators about officers’ forced entry that evening and the discovery of Ms Celeone’s remains.
“There was a brown substance around her body that must have been a product of decomposition,” he said.
“There were soiled clothes in the bathroom, which to me was an indication of poor health, and there were also various medicines that an internet search suggested for various ailments.”
The officer investigating the circumstances of the death said he was not treating the death as suspicious as there were no signs of forced entry to the property other than by police.
The apartment was in immaculate condition except for the area around the body, he added.
Letters were piling up at the Peckham property
(SWNS)
DS Fisher concluded there was no robbery or burglary as Ms Seleone’s jewelery and electrical goods were intact and there were no signs of broken bones or trauma on her body.
He added: “I think it passed around August 2019. The balcony door was open and the heating was off, which indicated warmer months to me.
“The prescription drug ran out around the summer of 2019. In her purse was a receipt for a visit to the stores [in] August 2019 And when we looked in the fridge, the shortest expiration date was a dessert that was partially eaten and that expired in August 2019.”
An autopsy was unable to determine the cause of death due to an advanced stage of decomposition.
The body of the 61-year-old woman was discovered after neighbors raised concerns for her welfare
(SWNS)
The last person Ms Celeone spoke to was a GP on 14 August 2019 and said she had wheezing and a cough. She had arranged to come for a face-to-face meeting the next day, but she never showed up.
Two months earlier, she had undergone a colonoscopy because she was suffering from inflammatory bowel disease and Crohn’s disease.
She had been receiving Universal Credit payments and had lived at the flat in Lords Court, Peckham, since 2014, the inquest heard.
When the Met reviewed the actions of officers who attended the flat in October 2020, their internal system found that one of their controllers had incorrectly recorded that Ms Celeone had been seen alive and well.
He also found that the officer who made the first call had only been there for eight minutes and questioned whether that was enough time to make proper enquiries.
The reviewers also felt that the officer on the second visit was too vague in his description and relied more on the previous officer’s reports of no odor than on his own experience.
The coroner, Dr. Julian Morris, returned an open verdict of death on Ms. Celeone because he could not determine the cause.
“Any death is sad, but to go unnoticed for more than two years is hard to understand in 2022,” he said.
“The non-payment of rent and the lack of communication between the three departments and the stoppage of gas supply left no doubt that something was wrong.
“However, I do not consider that these actions or omissions had any effect on Ms. Celeone’s clinical status or that they could have saved her life. Overall, I consider that she was already dead.”
Ashling Fox, of Peabody Housing Association, said: “I think it is clear that although the procedures were followed successfully, they were followed in a silo. The dots could have been connected sooner and we could have raised the alarm sooner.”
Additional accountability from agencies
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