Inside 'swamp flat' where woman was found dead after complaining of ongoing leak
A woman who was discovered dead in her bathroom was "distressed" about an ongoing leak that had reduced her kitchen floor to a swamp, her neighbour has said.
Jeffrey Frimpong, who lived below the woman on the Tabard Gardens estate in Southwark, South London, said she had attempted to contact the council about the issue but hadn't received any help.
Mr Frimpong called on the woman's flat in March last year after a leak started dripping into his house below.
When he entered the property he found the lady's kitchen flooded with water, reports My London.
Mr Frimpong told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I went into her house on March 9 2022 and there was water all on the floor and the water was covering the kitchen floor and the hallway.
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"She was distressed because of the state of the leak and the state of the property. It was terrible. She told me that she tried to contact the council herself and she said no one was helping.”
Mr Frimpong said he emailed the council on multiple occasions about the leak, but no one came to check the flat (Copyright Unknown)When the water started to drip into a cupboard where his gas meter was located, Mr Frimpong decided to call the council's emergency hotline.
A council employee attended the property and had to force entry to the property.
Tragically, the employee and Mr Frimpong then found the woman dead on the bathroom floor.
It is unclear how long she had been there.
Mr Frimpong said: “The carpenter opened the door and that’s when I saw the body on the floor in the bathroom. We struggled to open the door because of the letters and I saw her hair hanging out from the bathroom door.”
He claimed to have spent the previous nine months emailing Southwark Council weekly about the worsening leak from the lady’s flat, but that no one came to check on the property.
He said: “I was getting nowhere. They [Southwark] kept saying they couldn’t access her property without going through the courts. It was at least every other day I was messaging them by September. That’s when I contacted complaints because nothing was being done about the leak.”
Mr Frimpong added: “Her body was there in the bathroom and my bathroom is directly below hers. Water was dripping into my bathroom from hers and if her body was in the water then who knows what was leaking into our bathroom."
The Met Police said they were called to a property on Newcomen Street in Borough after a woman’s body was discovered.
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She was pronounced dead at the scene and her death is not being treated as suspicious, the Met added.
Cllr Darren Merrill, Southwark Council’s cabinet member for council homes and homelessness, said: “I am incredibly saddened that a woman has been found dead in one of our council properties, and extend my heartfelt condolences to her family and friends.
“We are supporting the police in establishing the exact circumstances, and thoroughly checking all records the council holds in relation to this property and the tenant.
"I know this is an extremely upsetting situation for people living in the block, and I want to reassure them that we will offer as much support as we can.”
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