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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Alahna Kindred

Schoolboy, 12, scared to sleep alone after woman's body lay in flat next door for over two years

A schoolboy who lived next door to a flat where a woman's body lay for two and half years says he's too scared to sleep now.

Sheila Seleoane, 58, died in August 2019 and was not found until February 2022.

Residents in the Peckham, South London, housing block are furious that their repeated attempts to raise the alarm in 2019 were ignored.

The medical receptionist's skeletal remains, dressed in blue pyjama bottoms and a white top, were only found when police finally knocked down her door after years of complaints from residents.

Chialuzue, 12, who lived down the corridor from Sheila says he is still too scared to sleep alone after she was found.

Flowers outside Sheila's door after she was found (BPM Media)

He told the BBC : "Ever since the police came to knock down the door I've been sleeping with my Mum because I'm too scared to sleep alone.

"I don't feel like coming back home, because I don't want to get reminded of what happened."

He adds: "It's affected me at school. Right now it's an assessment week. Every time I do an assessment, I just think about what happened and it brings me down."

Sheila's death was not considered suspicious by cops An out-of-date trifle in her fridge indicated how long her death remained undiscovered.

Neighbours previously told how they made complaints when maggots started infiltrating their flat.

Chantel, who lived below Sheila, changed her light bulbs weeks after her neighbour is thought to have died and maggots fell from the ceiling.

The moment police broke into Sheila's flat (SWNS)
Sheila laid dead for two years (SWNS)

The problem persisted, and she would find maggots all over her flat in the coming months, describing it as "like living in a horror movie".

Chantel called their housing association Peabody but was told the firm does not deal with maggots.

Audrey said she arrived home after a work trip and recalled a foul stench "like a dead body" as she went up in the lift.

Other neighbours tried putting towels and sheets under the door to keep the smell out.

Neighbours repeatedly complained after noticing a smell (BPM Media)

Donatus Okeke, who lives with his wife Evelyn and their three kids, said they couldn't eat or sleep in their flat due to the odour.

A Peabody spokesperson previously said: "In February last year we realised that Sheila Seleoane had died in her flat and had remained there for more than two years. We were, and remain, devastated that this could have happened.

"We must and will learn from what happened to make sure we always put our residents first and that this never happens again.

"We understand how devastating this has been for residents of Lords Court. We’ve apologised and have been working hard since to try and repair the relationship with residents over the past year since Sheila was found.

"We are so sorry that this happened. Clearly we still have a long way to go. We’re continuing to try and find new homes for residents who wish to move.

"While we have moved some families, the desperate shortage of suitable affordable homes in London means that we have not been able to move everyone.

"We have been open, honest and transparent about what went wrong. We immediately commissioned an independent report which we published in full and are acting on all 37 recommendations the report raised.

"We have to strike a balance between residents’ right to peaceful enjoyment of their homes and the desire to make sure that people are safe and well. But through better use of data, better teamwork across our organisation and more locally focused colleagues, we can be much better at spotting the signs that something isn’t right without intruding in people’s lives.

"From the way we allocate patch sizes and carry out estate inspections, to how we fulfil our gas servicing obligations or support residents with their rent payments, we have new ways of working to put people and their wellbeing at the centre of our operations.

"This is in part a cultural change which takes time, and we know very well that our services are not as good as they need to be. But we are determined to live our values, learn our lessons and continuously improve for the benefit of residents.”

The Mirror contacted Peabody for a statement.

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