Housewife spared jail after bedbug poison kills girl who lived next door

A housewife has been spared jail for accidentally killing her 11-year-old neighbour with poisonous gas she used to exterminate bedbugs.

Mother-of-two Jesmin Akter, 34, had illegally imported aluminium phosphide from Italy to deal with an infestation in her flat in Nida House, in Tower Hamlets, in east London.

She failed to read the packaging before distributing a deadly amount around her flat and taking her family out for 24 hours.

The substance reacted with moisture creating the poisonous gas phosphine, likened to chemical warfare agents.

It seeped into a neighbouring flats, killing Fatiha Sabrin on her 11th birthday and causing another young child to be hospitalised on December 11 2021.

Akter admitted manslaughter by committing an unlawful act and importing a regulated substance.

On Thursday, she was sentenced to two years in jail suspended for two years plus 150 hours of unpaid work.

Old Bailey Judge Alexia Durran noted there had been a problem with bedbugs in the defendant’s block of flats.

She said: “The landlord had taken some action but it appears to have been rather cursory and the employees used to carry out the fumigation in the past do not appear to have been well trained or trained at all.”

Akter’s decision to deal with the issue by taking aluminium phosphide on a passenger flight from Italy could have caused a “catastrophic mid-air incident and put hundreds of lives at risk” if the packaging had been damaged, the judge said.

Within a “relatively short period” of Akter distributing the tablets in her flat, other occupants, including children in the block began to feel unwell, she said.

The judge referred to a moving statement from Fatiha’s “heartbroken” father, Mohammed Islam.

He described his daughter as an “amazing, intelligent child who made friends with everyone and was a great help to her mother”.

The judge said: “Fatiha died on her 11th birthday. It is now a date that haunts her family.

“The sentence I impose will not bring Fatiha back and will seem inadequate to Fatiha’s family.

The judge noted Akter’s previous good character and told her: “I understand you are overwhelmed with crippling guilt.

“It seems highly unlikely you will ever forget what happened to Fatiha was the result of your actions.

“A young life full of promise has been lost.”

The court had heard how the defendant imported the aluminium phosphide from Italy without a licence on November 26 2021.

Initially, she told police that she had bought the substance in a shop but later admitted her mother had brought it to Italy from Bangladesh.

Having scattered pellets around her flat to tackle a bedbug problem, the toxic gas phosphine it created then escaped into other flats, prosecutor James Dawes KC said.

He said the levels of phosphine gas which escaped into the Fatiha’s home was estimated as being between two-and-a-half and 26 times the known lethal dose.

Fatiha woke at 4am on the morning of December 11 complaining to her mother, Kaniz, that she needed the toilet and was vomiting.

Her mother called her GP and the helpline 111 before phoning 999 at 9.30am.

Initially, Fatiha was advised by paramedics to take diarrhoea medication and eat plain food.

London Fire Brigade checked for carbon dioxide poisoning but found nothing, the court heard.

Meanwhile, other residents started coughing raising fears of Covid.

At 1.30pm, emergency services were called again as Fatiha’s condition deteriorated.

Paramedics found she had stopped breathing and fallen unconscious at 3.30pm and she died in hospital just before 5pm.

The fire brigade declared a hazardous materials incident and further checks identified the poison.

Mr Dawes said: “Because the first attendance of London Ambulance and Fire Brigade had been done without full protective equipment, there was concern at the time as well.”

The prosecutor said phosphine was considered “on a par with chemical warfare agents” and children were particularly vulnerable to exposure.

On entering the defendant’s flat, firefighters discovered grey powdery residue on surfaces and in the sink.

The quantity used by Akter was nearly three times the amount recommended by the manufacturer in commercial warehouses and was not for use in dwellings, the court heard.

On the defendant’s explanation, Mr Dawes said: “She used it in order to eliminate bed bugs she feared were in her flat.

“She stated she did not know there would be a risk of danger to her neighbours by using aluminium phosphide.

“She did, having put out the poison, take her family out of her flat for 24 hours.”

Mr Dawes said the defendant had expressed “deep remorse” and attempted to help the victim not knowing she had caused her illness.

In a handwritten statement, Akter said she obtained the “anti-bedbug” product on the advice of her family but did not read the packaging.

She said she “did not know the product contained a dangerous poison”, saying she was “desperate after the landlord tried and failed to get rid of the infestation”.

She apologised to Fatiha’s family who had “paid the price” for her actions.

The court was told Nida House was owned and managed by Nabiganj Investment Company Ltd, a family firm which owns 160 properties.

In a statement, Fatiha’s family said: “We continue to feel the loss of our beloved Fatiha every day, and think of what she may be doing now, were she still here.

“She was taken from us unexpectedly, and in a very cruel way. Although our hearts are broken, it is some small comfort to know that justice has been done.”

Detective Inspector Aytac Necati, of Scotland Yard, said: “When Akter used the poison in her flat, she did so illegally.

“This was a terrible and reckless decision that resulted in a number of people becoming ill. It had fatal consequences for Fatiha.

“People encountering pest control problems should always seek professional advice or, if they are using commercially available products, they should read and follow the instructions carefully.”