A five-year-old girl drowned in a canal after falling through barriers which were reported unsafe to a housing association, a coroner ruled.
Malika Mohammed Abdu Hibu was pulled from the Regent’s Canal near her home in Islington, north London, shortly after going missing on February 17.
An inquest into her death heard Malika, who had autism, used a thumb lock to open the door before running towards the canal from her home on Wharf Road.
A neighbour spotted a child believed to be the five-year-old playing alone near the canal about 45 minutes before Malika was reported missing by her panicked mother.
Shortly after police were contacted, the young girl was found floating in her pink pyjamas face down in the water.
One resident dived in to the body of water to try and save Malika. She was then taken to St Thomas’ Hospital but died just after 7pm, the inquest heard.
Wharf Road – where Malika lived – has three canals in the nearby area, including the City Road Basin, the Wenlock Basin as well as Regent’s Canal.
St Pancras Coroners Court heard housing association Peabody were responsible for maintaining the barriers between the homes and the canal where Malika fell.
Detective Sergeant Lisa Jordan, of the Metropolitan Police, said: ‘There is a gap between the first and second barrier which a small child could easily crawl underneath.’
She continued: ‘From my point of view, I do not think that that barrier was appropriate for young families living so close to it.’
‘Peabody did not consider the barrier, risk assess it or act on complaints’
There were further debates in court on who owned the wall on which the barrier was constructed, with the coroner determining Peabody were responsible.
A temporary barricade has since been put in place to stop accidents.
St Pancras Coroner Mary Hassell said: ‘All of the evidence points in the same direction, which is that the housing association Peabody did in fact own the top of the wall.
‘It didn’t realise it owned the top of the wall, it didn’t consider the barrier, it didn’t risk assess it, it didn’t act on any complaints.’
‘The rail that was present presented no appreciable barrier to a little girl who was just playing and was interested in the water below.’
‘Peabody is responsible for many such buildings and I remain extremely concerned that they didn’t know for sure what they owned and what they didn’t own.
They didn’t risk assess a very obviously potentially dangerous situation.’
She added: ‘What concerns me about all of that is a culture, it’s a way of thinking, and that’s what I want to bring to Peabody’s attention..’
The coroner will create two reports in a bid to prevent any further deaths.
One regarding planning as the barriers were ignored in the 2014 planning application, and a second into Peabody itself for failing to respond to complaints about the unsafe barrier.
The housing association has contacted Islington Council via email in October 2023 regarding who owned the barrier, according to the inquest.
Peabody did not hear from the council and only followed up for a response a week before the five-year-old died.
Tracy Packer, managing director for Peabody North East London, said has the council replied sooner, the housing association would have been able to make the area safer more quickly.
She denied Peabody’s full responsibility for the incident repeatedly, the inquest heard.
‘It is difficult to be responsible for everybody’s actions. I understand that is a really difficult thing,’ she said.
When asked if the housing association accepted responsibility for the accident, she said: ‘In its entirety, I would say no.’
A post-mortem examination confirmed that Malika’s cause of death was drowning.
Malika’s parents attended the inquest helped by a Tigrinya translator.
Giving evidence during the inquest, Malika’s mum Huria Ali said she was at home with Malika and her older siblings before the tragedy.
Describing her daughter, she said: ‘She was funny, she was sweet, she was kind, but she didn’t speak because she’s autistic.
Malika was a student at Bridge School in Islington, North London – a school for children with severe learning difficulties as well as autism.
Asked if she could be ‘more of a risk’ than other children, the mum-of-four agreed and said: ‘She doesn’t know what she’s doing.’
However she said Malika never played by the canal unless she was present, and had never tried to get into the water before.
On the day Malika died, she said she didn’t know how her daughter had got out of the house adding: ‘The front door was closed. I checked every room at home and when I noticed she was not there I ran to the canal to check, because I was always scared of the canal.
‘I knew something would happen. My children never go alone on that canal.’
She said she called her husband at work and he called the police.
‘I was talking to the police and then while we were talking someone found her and they called the police over’, she said.
She told the coroner a neighbour had complained about the safety of the canal railings on behalf of all residents some years before as she said they felt it was ‘not safe’ for families.
A Peabody spokesperson said: ‘This was a heartbreaking and tragic accident, and our thoughts remain with Malika’s family and friends as they grieve their terrible loss.
‘We’ll continue to support local residents and will consider all the points raised in the coroner’s report.’
Cllr Kaya Comer-Schwartz, Leader of Islington Council, said: ‘Malika’s death was a terrible tragedy, and our thoughts and prayers continue to be with her family and loved ones.
‘We will carefully consider everything that has been said today, and throughout the inquest.’