A woman plunged to her death after falling from the sixth floor of her Hackney flat while trying to fix a broken drainpipe, an investigation into her death has found.
Sarah McGreevy, 37, fell from her balcony at around 9.40am on June 16 and when police officers visited the scene they discovered a wooden box on the balcony and her mobile phone on a window ledge nearby.
The phone was close to a drainpipe from the seventh-floor balcony above Ms McGreevy’s flat that was on the outside wall of the block.
Officers noted the drainpipe had been repaired using “heavy duty tape” and they were told neighbours on Ms McGreevy’s floor and the floor below had been climbing onto their balconies to unblock pipes.
A coroner’s investigation has revealed that police were told about problems with the guttering and drainpipes at the block, particularly following heavy rainfall.
Senior Coroner Mary Hassell wrote in her report: “The Police investigation did not reveal any evidence to suggest that anyone else was involved in Ms McGreevy’s death or that she had any suicidal intent.
“Photographs taken of Ms McGreevy’s hands following her death show dirt around her fingernails consistent with undertaking a cleaning task.
“I found that it was more likely than not that Ms McGreevy had climbed onto the wooden box to clear the pipe and had accidentally fallen over the balcony.”
The investigation revealed Ms McGreevy had been a shorthold tennant at the two bedroom flat and the freeholder of the premise was Hackney Council.
Coroner Hassell explained that during an inquest into Ms McGreevy’s death, which ended on Wednesday, there was evidence that similar deaths could happen unless action was taken.
The coroner said that several residents were climbing onto their balconies in order to clear blocked drainpipes and that there was “a clear risk of falls”.
The leaseholder of the property also told the coroner that “he was not aware of any work being undertaken to the guttering or drainpipes to the block following Ms McGreevy’s death”.
The report, which was directed at the Operations Director of Tenancy and Homeowner Services at Hackney Council, called for the borough to take further action and gave it 56 days to respond.
A council spokesperson told the Standard: “This is a tragic case and our thoughts are with the friends and family of Sarah McGreevy.
“The Coroner has detailed a number of issues for us to consider in her Prevention of Future Deaths Report.
“We do not expect anyone living in a Hackney Council home to clean their own guttering and like the Coroner we want to ensure an incident like this doesn’t happen again. We will be carefully going through the report and responding as quickly as possible.”
