Woman denies killing girl, 11, after 'using poisonous substance to tackle bedbugs' in east London flat

The OId Bailey
PA Wire
Emily Pennink12 January 2024
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A woman has pleaded not guilty to killing an 11-year-old girl after allegedly using a poisonous substance to tackle bedbugs in her flat.

At an Old Bailey hearing on Friday, Jesmin Akter, 33, denied charges of manslaughter and importing a regulated substance.

On November 26 2021, the defendant allegedly imported a regulated substance, namely aluminium phosphide, from Italy without a licence.

She allegedly scattered pellets of the substance - which is a regulated poison - around her flat in Shadwell, east London, to tackle a bedbug problem that was rife in her block of flats.

The aluminium phosphide is alleged to have been activated by moisture to create the dangerous gas phosphine which travelled to the flat of an 11-year-old girl.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, died in hospital on December 11 2021.

Akter, who is on bail, faces a three-week trial from July 1 at the Old Bailey with a further hearing on April 19.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in