Housing group said he was “devastated” and “sorry for our part” in unable to understand one of its tenants were left dead in her apartment for two and half years.
Sheila Seleoan, 58, was last heard from in August 2019, last month she made rent.
When the police made them way to her apartment in peckham in February 2022 – after neighbors noticed the balcony door swung open following Storm Eunice – her body should have been identified by dental charts.
Residents reported having of maggots and flies in the Peabody Group “within a few weeks” of August date she had last was confirmed alive, but a month later the housing association dropped the case.
“We didn’t ask the most important question – is Sheila okay?” Peabody chief executive Ian McDermott said.
“I am very sorry that this happened,” he said. “We have apologized family. We are very sorry for what’s happened.
“The biggest apologies, I think, are made to the residents of Judgment of the Lord. They told us there was something wrong.”
Six months after Ms. Seleoane made her last rent, Peabody made Appendix for direct payment of Universal credit.
The housing association did not return this amount. money but promised to do so.
According to an independent investigation commissioned by Peabody, the COVID-19 lockdown “aggravated the length of of time body remained undisclosed, but was not cause of delay”.
Peabody said it recorded 89 attempts to contact Ms Seleoan, but acknowledged that these were not significant and none were successful.
By October 2020, the housing association asked the Metropolitan Police to perform welfare check on Ms. Seleoan and the officer incorrectly told them that she was safe and well.
force said the employee has since left in force but it would faced asking about professional standards if they still worked.
Coroner’s inquest this week found that the police and Peabody missed numerous opportunities to find her body.
Dr. Julian Morris issued an open verdict and said: “To lie unnoticed for in all probability over two years is hard to understand in 2022”
