Moment cops break into flat where skeletal remains of woman, 61, laid dead for two years & prompted ‘rotting meat’ smell
THIS is the moment police broke into a flat where a woman’s remains laid for more than two years. At least three officers were filmed going into Sheila Seleoane’s flat after neighbours complained more than 50 times of a rotting meat smell. Sheila, 61, was found on Friday. She is said to have owed thousands […]
THIS is the moment police broke into a flat where a woman’s remains laid for more than two years.
At least three officers were filmed going into Sheila Seleoane’s flat after neighbours complained more than 50 times of a rotting meat smell.
Sheila, 61, was found on Friday. She is said to have owed thousands in rent and her letterbox was overflowing in Peckham, South London.
Flies were also heard buzzing in her flat and seen coming under the door while maggots infested other flats, neighbours said.
But they were allegedly told by the housing association that the smell was a drain problem, that no one would come to investigate in lockdown, and even that the woman had been taken out the flat.
Harriet Harman, MP for Camberwell and Peckham, told the MailOnline: “This is absolutely awful; this kind of thing should not happen. It’s awful for this woman, her family and the people living in this block.”
She has demanded an explanation from housing association Peabody and called the response unsatisfactory.
She added: “It looks as if this woman had rent arrears. She was not paying these off but Peabody was receiving them from her benefits.
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“We need to get to the bottom of this. It’s not something that should be regarded as OK.”
Neighbour Ayesha Smith insists she contacted the housing association at least 50 times but nothing was done.
She told MyLondon: “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.”
Ms Smith said the block of 20 flats was getting fobbed off whenever they complained, adding: “It seemed like they just didn’t care.
“What happened is horrible. All of us tenants reported it time and time again but we weren’t listened to.”
Another woman said she would find up to 50 dead flies in her flat when she came home each day.
And Korrina White, 33, said her son was playing knock-down-ginger in the hallway when he saw flies coming from underneath Ms Seleoane’s door.
Another young woman said: “It’s disgusting. I came back from a trip abroad in October 2019 when I noticed a horrific stench in the building.
“It was so bad, I had to put a towel under the door.”
Neighbours became increasingly concerned when her mail began piling up and a forced entry notice for a routine gas check appeared on her door in 2020.
The neighbour added: “We repeatedly called the housing association because it was weird.
“The police came but they said lots of people had moved out of London during the pandemic and she could be abroad.”
A bike was abandoned in front of her door a short while later and again neighbours complained after it wasn’t removed.
The Met Police said: “Concerns had been raised about the welfare of a woman who lived at the address.
“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.”
