Ella Kissi-Debrah: Mother wins fight for new inquest into daughter’s death which she blames on air pollution

A fresh inquest has been ordered into the death of a nine-year-old girl who suffered a fatal asthma attack believed to have been linked to air pollution.

Ella Kissi-Debrah died in 2013 after battling severe asthma and seizures for years. She lived just 25m from London’s South Circular Road – a notorious pollution hotspot.

Her mother, Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, cried tears of joy in court at news the previous inquest’s findings would be quashed and a new one would be opened.

Ella, who took 27 visits to hospital for asthma attacks, may become the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as their cause of death.

The young girl’s mother applied to the court for another inquest after new evidence came to light regarding air pollution levels close to their home.

“I am absolutely delighted by today’s ruling and look forward to finally getting the truth about Ella’s death,” her mother said in a statement after the High Court ruling.

“The past six years of not knowing why my beautiful, bright and bubbly daughter died has been difficult for me and my family, but I hope the new inquest will answer whether air pollution took her away from us.

“If it is proved that pollution killed Ella then the government will be forced to sit up and take notice that this hidden but deadly killer is cutting short our children’s lives.”

While the inquest in 2014 focused on Ella’s medical care and said the cause of her death was acute respiratory failure, as a result of a severe asthma attack, a 2018 report concluded it was likely unlawful levels of pollution contributed to the attack.

The report by Professor Stephen Holgate found air pollution levels at the Catford monitoring station – one mile from Ella’s home – “consistently” exceeded lawful EU limits over the three years prior to her death.

Ruling with two other judges that the old conclusions should be quashed, Judge Mark Lucraft QC said: “In our judgment, the discovery of new evidence makes it necessary in the interests of justice that a fresh inquest be held.”

The judge said Ella’s family’s lawyers had argued the new evidence demonstrated there was an “arguable failure” by the state to comply with its duties under article two of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to life.

Jocelyn Cockburn, from the law firm representing Ms Kissi-Debrah, said they were pleased they had been granted a new inquest to find out if her death was avoidable and if air pollution contributed to it.

She said: “A new inquest will also mean the government and other public bodies will have to answer difficult questions about why they have ignored the overwhelming evidence about the detrimental health impact of air pollution and allowed illegal levels to persist for more than a decade. There is now momentum for change, and it is fundamental that air pollution is brought down to within lawful limits.”

Ms Kissi-Debrah, outside the Royal Courts of Justice, said she was “overwhelmed” by the “amazing victory”, saying it was a “fantastic day” for her family and “surviving children”.

She added that she had “absolutely no doubt whatsoever” that her daughter’s death was related to air pollution. She said she wanted “to show to the British public what air pollution can actually do – they need to start getting angry about this”.