Officers in Peckham, south London, were seen entering 61-year-old Sheila Seleoane’s home after neighbours complained of the smell and maggots coming from inside
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Police break into flat where remains of woman found after two years
Shocking footage shows police breaking into a woman’s home where her body was found two years after her death.
Officers were seen forcing their way into Sheila Seleoane’s home after neighbours complained of a rotting meat smell more than 50 times.
The resident, 61, had been dead for more than two years by the time cops arrived at her apartment in Peckham, south London.
Video footage shows at least three uniformed officers entering the flat while a horrified neighbour watches on from a distance.
Residents said maggots had infested other flats while flies were heard buzzing inside her apartment before her body was finally discovered on Friday, reports The Sun.
Peabody housing association, who allegedly put the smell down to a drain problem, said that nobody would investigate during lockdown and that the woman had been removed from the property.
Uniformed officers were seen breaking into the flat in Peckham, south London
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A forensic officer outside the property
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One woman living below Ms Seleoane’s flat said they had “maggots come through the windows” in the summer of 2019 and claimed that the housing association told her they were not dealt with by pest control.
She claims she first called police after hearing the woman’s balcony door crashing open and closed in October 2021.
When Storm Eunice hit London, she said the door began violently swinging again, so she knocked on the door and alerted police who came shortly after at 7pm.
Officers were videoed forcing entry into the flat
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The woman’s body had been left to decompose inside
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Neighbour Ayesha Smith told My London : “Police came with a battering ram. It was so frightening the way they came in. My son said he froze.
“They took some of her stuff. Her bag and her coat and left it outside the door and there were pink party balloons which had been tied up but all the air had gone out of them.
“What happened is horrible. All of us tenants reported it time and time again but we weren’t listened to.”
Flowers were left outside Sheila Seleoane’s door at Lord’s Court in Peckham
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Residents were concerned once more when they noticed the mail starting to pile up and a forced entry notice for a routine gas check appear on the door in 2020.
One neighbour said multiple calls were made to the housing association and police came.
But the resident claims she was told that “lots of people had moved out of London during the pandemic and she could be abroad.”
The Met Police confirmed that concerns had been raised over the welfare of a woman at the property.
Letters were piling up at the property
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A spokesperson said: “Officers attended and forced entry. The body of a 61-year-old woman who was deceased was found inside.
“The woman’s death is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious. A file will be prepared for the coroner.”
Harriet Harman, MP for Camberwell and Peckham, has demanded an explanation from the housing association and said the response was unsatisfactory.
A Peabody spokesperson told the Mirror Online: “We are incredibly upset by what has happened.
A bike was left parked outside the flat
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An ambulance parked at the scene
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“Quite rightly everyone wants answers and so do we. No-one should have been left like this, we must understand what went wrong so that this never happens again.
“We had listened and responded to the neighbours reports, repeatedly trying to make contact, and had called the police back in October 2020 who reported everything was fine.
“Clearly, we didn’t do enough and we need to understand how and why this happened.
“We’re carrying out a full investigation, and will involve the police, authorities, our teams and residents. We will leave no stone unturned so that we can learn from this.”
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https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/moment-police-break-flat-womans-26312011
