Six months after being discovered, the woman who lay dead in her Borough flat for several months still hasn’t been identified.
An investigation will establish if she was let down by the council during her lifetime, but there are now fears that she’s being failed in death.
Southwark’s investigation into the woman’s death is seeing council officers interviewed and procedures reviewed. But how effective can this investigation be if we don’t even know for certain who the woman is?
The failure to obtain this basic information will undoubtedly raise concerns about the thoroughness of the overall investigation. We are now hearing the review could conclude before she is even identified.
Identification, which is mainly the Met Police’s responsibility, can undoubtedly be a tricky business, especially when a body has been left for so long. But senior politicians across the Labour-Lib Dem political divide, including MP Neil Coyle, say the council should be pushing the Met harder to get the woman identified as quickly as possible.
As sad as this poor woman’s death is, it’s not just about her. If the internal review is done properly, it could stop these tragic circumstances from arising again. But identification is the first, basic step and must be done as quickly as possible.
Woman who lay dead in her Borough flat ‘for four months’ still hasn’t been identified
